


Boxed In

by Estirose



Category: Kamen Rider Kiva
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-08
Updated: 2012-02-08
Packaged: 2017-10-30 19:19:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/335179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. The world is a different place and Wataru faces a challenge of a different kind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boxed In

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The Executioner, The Watcher, The Chooser, and Hotaru (along with some assorted Fangaire) all belong to me, but pretty much everybody else doesn't.
> 
> Note: This is an AU written early on in the series (in fact, I started writing it just before I saw episode 3, and finished it after episode 4). In that time, TV-Asahi changed the spelling of the main villains three times (Fangaia, Fangaire, Fangire), so I stuck with the middle spelling that was used during most of the time I wrote the fic. Certain elements that showed up later in the canon storyline (such as Nago, Mio, Taiga) are absent because they had yet to be introduced when I wrote this.
> 
> Trivia: The term "Fandiri" that sometimes shows up in Kiva fanfic originated here.
> 
> This is the fanfiction.net posted version.

She surveyed the reports and files with a faint air of distaste. She'd spent years tracking the various hunter groups in Japan - and some around the world - making sure they were not a threat to her people.

She herself was nondescript, quiet, didn't make waves. The local populace was used to her, used to the fact that she only came out to feed, didn't bother her. The rise of technology meant that she didn't have to. She had moles in hunter groups that reported to her, agents ever vigilant looking for new groups and individuals.

Her files categorized each group and individual, evaluating their threat to her own people in certain criteria - their beliefs, their fanaticalness, their ability to carry out an attack. Some hated all of her kind, the Fangaire, considering them parasites upon humans; others only wanted to execute the Fangaire who attacked humans, killed Fangaire had their own executioner for those cases, but some humans wanted to do it anyway, no matter how much the Fangaire pointed out that the rogues were under control.

She opened one file. Group 17-A-R. It had been operating for some thirty years, enough to have some second generation members. Its members were only after the rogues, which had made them less of a threat, until yesterday. She remembered the phone call from her mole within their group.

He'd used a service that made it hard for his cell to trace his calls. Call a number, hang up, have it call you back, and then dial the number. She recommended that all her agents and moles use it if possible, to make it harder to be found out. And this mole was sensible - he used it for everything, from her independent examination of his own records. Never trust moles completely, after all.

"They have Kivat," he said simple, the simple sentence making even her shiver. Kivat was a sentient, biomechanical bat that gave its possessor the ability to form the Kiva armor, an armor effective against her own kind.

"Who wields it?" she asked, letting no trace of her fear enter her voice. He no doubt thought her the shadowy voice that reported to a true master, as if a woman couldn't be responsible for running their intelligence operation.

"I don't know," his voice was hesitant. "I couldn't ask without seeming suspicious." She'd always counseled patience with her agents and moles; it was good that this one was heeding her advice. "Kivat rests in Kurenai Otoya's house."

"Understood," she said, terminating the call.

And now she was looking at the records. Kurenai Otoya, a violinist and violinmaker. Reports painted him as a romantic and a womanizer. He had one son, Wataru, who looked like he'd follow his father in both the violinmaking and the hunting aspects of his life. Wataru was one of two second-generation members; Aso Megumi was the other. Little was known about Wataru's mother; how Otoya had gained custody was also a mystery, and he'd never married.

To use the Kiva armor, they'd need either a sympathetic Fangaire to donate blood to a human wielder, or a half-Fangaire, a Fandiri. Enough Fangaire blood in the wielder's system and the armor would form. She hoped it was not a Fandiri; to have humans pervert the children of the Fangaire against them made even her blood boil. If it was a hunter-raised Fandiri, they'd have a hard time holding on to the child, much less rehabilitating it.

It would take a little time, going through each member's records and discovering any irregularities that meant that this group had hidden a Fandiri; she'd pay special attention to Wataru's and Megumi's records, with Wataru's records of the more importance because of the seeming lack of them. Humans were not supposed to have custody of the Fandiri; the Fandiri were the Fangaire's children, and were raised as such.

The next difficulty would be in isolating either child for testing. The testing was easy enough, the right herbs, the right food, they would cause the hidden Fandiri to show their true ancestry, a blush that echoed their Fangaire ancestors'. Most hidden Fandiri were taught to avoid those foods, those herbs, to run and hide if accidentally exposed. And their hunter parents would protect their Fandiri offspring, and become fanatical if their child was taken away.

She could do without another fanatical hunter group.

Investigation first. Then she'd figure out what to do if it turned out that there was a Fandiri in this hunter group's midst. That delicate operation probably wasn't hers to do anyway; all she could do was advise them on how to proceed. And hope that they didn't botch things.

* * *

The Executioner sipped at his tea. "A hidden Fandiri. Interesting." He was average too; someone that most humans wouldn't take a second look at, most Fangaire either. Neither of them associated much with other Fangaire, their duties too important to deal with the rest of their kind. She liked it, and she knew that he liked it too. He looked over at her, studying her, smiling as if she was the greatest thing in the world.

"Interesting to you. Dangerous to the rest of us." She took a sip of her own tea. "Hunter groups aren't as harmless to the rest of us as they are to you."

"This is what happens when you raise Fandiri to not know how to hunt," he pointed out. "If they knew how to hunt, knew how to defend themselves, then the human hunters wouldn't be so dangerous to most of them." He settled back in his chair. "A side effect of making sure we don't cull the humans to the point where they're not useful."

"Hunter-born Fandiri aren't exactly compliant when they're caught," she pointed out. "The last few have had to be kept confined for the rest of their lives. They either try to kill us or they go back to their groups. They never accept what they are."

He grinned. "To them, that is what they are; you've got to understand their mindset. To them, Fangaire - at least some of us - are the enemy. It's like dealing with a rogue."

"That's your area, not mine," she said. She eyed the roll, so innocent-looking. A Fandiri would blush for hours after eating it; for her, it caused a brief, rainbow-colored blush to appear on her skin.

"Of course," he told her. "Our jobs are simple. I end lives, Chooser finds worthy new ones, and you make sure the humans don't kill us." He grinned again. "My job is simple; I don't envy Chooser."

She nodded. Unspoken was the fact that even among the rare Fandiri, most of them would live mortal lives, grow old, and die. It was only when the Fangaire were in need of replenishing their numbers was Chooser called to find worthy Fandiri to convert to Fangaire. There were a few exceptions - her successor, Executioner's, Chooser's - their apprentices would be converted as soon as they were ready - or at least legal adults.

"Watcher," he said, leaning forward and addressing her by her title, "I think I know what to do with Kiva's wielder. And if you're right, your little rogue Fandiri."

"Tell me," she said, intrigued.

"It's not well-known, but the Kiva armor can be shattered," he said. "It's not well known because it's hard to pull off. But I've shattered the armor several times, it can be done."

She gave a tight nod. If the armor could be shattered, all well and good, but that would put the human or Fandiri inside in danger if they were near a rogue. Not that she cared much for hunters, but even misraised Fandiri were their people, their children, and a human life was worth saving. Even if only to be fed off of later.

"There's a rogue that I've just confirmed," he said. "A rogue that's killing humans. We've kept it under wraps, but it would be a perfect opportunity to leak it to your hunter group. I'm sure they'd deploy Kiva - they'd be insane not to."

She nodded again. "You'd have to stop Kiva before engaging the rogue. If there's no Fandiri, if Kiva's wielder is human..."

"Human or Fandiri, I'll make sure they're safe," he said. "Then I'll contain the rogue." She didn't need to question what would happen next - if Kiva's wielder was human, they'd be warned, and then taken to a Fangaire-run hospital until their blood was clear of Fangaire elements; if it turned out to be a Fandiri - Kurenai Wataru, if she guessed right - then they'd be taken into custody. "I'd like to take custody of this one. A Fandiri who knows how to fight would be a good apprentice."

"If he is one, he's apt to run away," she warned. "It won't be all fun and games." Though, for the Executioner, it might be; he was not exactly typical.

"I know," Executioner said. "I've talked to the ones who had custody of them. It's because they expect that these kids will be able to adapt - and then they handle them like that. They should be going with the hunter instincts, not trying to suppress them."

"And you want to try your hand at it?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. Somehow, he didn't strike her as being a good choice for a parent, more likely to play games with an apprentice than properly raise them.

"If it is a hunter-raised Fandiri," the Executioner said, "He won't understand what most Fangaire would try pushing on him. Me, on the other hand, I know what it's like to hunt and fight. I think he'd feel more comfortable with me."

"Or she," the Watcher pointed out. "Kurenai Wataru's records could have been made in such a way to distract us if, say, Aso Megumi is their real Fandiri. If they have one."

"I don't care," the Executioner said. "Either way, it's a feral child. I'm probably the only one that can handle it. And you know that the Council's been pushing me to find an apprentice anyway."

"Usually, that means someone fosters them first, and then you find them and persuade them, not foster the child in the first place," she felt obligated to point out.

He shrugged. "Why not cut out the middleman and get it right in the first place?"

"You're serious?" she asked. "He - or she - is going to be a lot of work."

"I'm always up for a challenge," he said, taking a large sip of his tea. "And it'll keep me in practice."

She shook her head. "You're impossible."

He answered with a laugh. "Maybe I am."

* * *

Executioner kept Watcher's words in mind, though, as he hid. The rogue Fangaire was in his house, waiting for the pretty girl he'd invited that night to snack upon. Watcher had promised him that she'd found a realistic way to alert this hunter cell, and just the hunter cell they wanted, and so they should be coming. Or at least Kiva's wielder should. There would be a complication if the others came, though he'd brought his own restraints for Kiva's wielder, restraints that would keep said wielder from being carried off by his cell members while the Executioner's back was turned.

The girl went to the door, the rogue invited her in. He'd take his time, the Executioner knew; the rogues usually liked to play with their food. If the Executioner could save the innocent human, he would, but capturing Kiva and then taking care of the rogue - preferably capturing him as well, but if needed, the execution would take place then and there. After all, there was a possible Fandiri child to keep safe, not to mention the human if she was at risk.

He heard conversation soon after, quiet conversation. One speaker was bobbing up and down, one was steady. He recognized the bobber; it was Kivat, and the other voice was male. Kurenai Wataru, perhaps? He wouldn't know until he saw the person in question; he'd at least seen all the photos for the members of that cell.

The biomechanical bat floated into his view, followed by another form. Kurenai Wataru, he recognized the boy from the pictures. Kiva's wielder, it seemed. Talking about their target.

As the Executioner watched, Wataru reached for Kivat, capturing the bat in his hand and then bringing him down to bite his other hand. Patterns formed on his body - face and neck, actually, though Executioner had no doubt that the pattern continued under his clothing - and Executioner took a breath. Hunter-raised Fandiri Wataru was, then, and as a Fandiri, had to be neutralized and taken to safety quickly.

The armor formed, and Executioner watched as Wataru-as-Kiva walked past. He'd have to strike fast, and blessed the fact that the rogue had soundproofed his manor, not likely being able to hear the fight. He struck quickly, and soon the Kiva armor was dissolving, Kurenai Wataru laying on the ground. He picked the boy up before Wataru had a chance to fully regain his senses, dropping him into the box he'd prepared earlier, and locking it. It would be too heavy for the rest of his cell to move quickly, and the Executioner should be done with his true prey before they could otherwise get him out.

Then he took care of the rogue. The rogue forced him to execute then and there, which he didn't mind, but he knew the council did. They liked to draw the death out, make sure the one who killed understood why he or she had to die. Executioner preferred the clean way, the fast way.

As the shaken human thanked him, he sipped a little bit of her energy to help regain some of his own. She didn't seem to mind, they never did. He just smiled, gave her the card of a local trauma counselor sympathetic to the Fangaire, and escorted her out.

Kivat dove at him several times as he went back to retrieve Wataru. Once he got to where he'd put the boy, he could see why; Aso Yuri was standing there, weapon at hand, while Wataru's father Otoya was attempting to pick the lock. He wondered where Aso Yuri's daughter was, and then decided probably someplace nearby. "I suggest," he said, "That you leave the area. The occupant of that box is under my protection."

"The occupant of that box," Aso Yuri said sharply, "Is not going to become your next meal."

He stopped himself from laughing at her. "You know as well as I do, Aso Yuri, on what the boy is. And why I can't allow your group to keep him."

"You," she said, gesturing with her weapon, "Are not going to be allowed to kill any more humans."

This time, he did laugh. "I am not the rogue, Aso-san," he said. "He was my kill, and I took care of that one." He didn't shift out of his armored form; he wasn't stupid. "That one, on the other hand, is the Fandiri child your group has hidden for seventeen years." At that point, Kurenai Otoya had managed to unlock the third tumbler and pop the lid of the box. "And before you run off with him, thinking you can keep him away, I'll let you know this: he will be registered and he and your cell will be hunted until he is safe."

Kurenai was helping his son out of the box, Aso was standing firmly in his way. He really couldn't blame them for thinking he was the rogue, and even if he wasn't, a danger to Wataru; hunter cells had a bad tendency to do that. Hurting them and taking the boy would only make them fanatical, and he owed it to the Watcher to not let that happen.

"I am the Executioner," he said, noting from Aso Yuri's posture that she recognized the name. "I have done my duty. I have killed the rogue you sent Wataru after. But Wataru is Fandiri, not human. He doesn't belong in your world."

"Kivat?" Aso Yuri asked, not taking her eyes off of him.

"He is who he says he is," the bat responded. Kivat wasn't on his side, the Executioner knew he wasn't, but he was glad that the bat would affirm his identity. He didn't want to fight with these people, just protect the child.

"Wataru is human," Aso Yuri said. "I can guarantee that."

Executioner snorted. "Then why don't we all go down to the local hospital and test him? If he's not, I relinquish my claim." He knew she wouldn't; he knew that the tests would confirm what Wataru was, then and there. Kurenai was disappearing with Wataru, and Executioner strode forward. "I don't hurt humans unless I have to," he said. "But if you don't move out of the way, I will." It was an empty threat, he knew he'd have to let them leave to preserve the peace. Besides, he knew what the boy was, he could be retrieved. It would be good to match wits with the hunter cell, test Wataru's skills. He'd know what training the boy needed when he gained custody of him.

Suddenly letting the boy go seemed like a really good idea.

Bullets struck his armor, bouncing off harmlessly. He turned to look at the source. Aso Megumi; he recognized her too. But he said nothing. He turned back around, to look at her mother and to watch Wataru.

But the boy and his father were gone. Mentally sighing, he strode away, not in the direction the Kurenais had likely gone, not threatening in any way to the Aso family. For the moment, they had Wataru... but he'd get the boy back.

* * *

"So, you had him, and you lost him." Her tone was not judgmental, she endeavored to keep it neutral and unattached.

"Temporarily," he said. "We know where he lives, what's the hurry? We want them to relax. Besides, you didn't want them turning radical on you."

"No, but I was rather hoping that you'd have at least tried to retrieve him," she said. "Though I hear the Council is less forgiving about that than I am."

"They still gave me custody," he pointed out. He examined her files, the ones that she had brought. "Technically, Kurenai Otoya doesn't have any legal authority over Wataru anymore. I just have to pick Wataru up."

"By waiting for him to transform again?" she asked, watching as he flipped through photographs. At least he was careful to keep her items in order. "They'll be anticipating that."

"I've assured the council that I will have Wataru in my home within a month," he said. "Right now, he's in hiding. Give them a week, and he might be allowed to go out. I'll hunt him then."

"You've started calling him by his first name, then," she noted.

"He is my child, Watcher," he reminded her. "And my apprentice. I called him such before the council."

"You have to find him first," she said, taking the file back.

"And try not to enrage the hunter cell he's in." the Executioner leaned forward. "You know, that cell would do a lot of good if we brought them in."

She could have been forgiven if she dropped the file, scattering the contents about on his floor. But she didn't, because she retained enough control, even though she nearly did, and she frantically straightened the papers and photos.

"Or at least let them be involved," he said, musing it through. "It might make them happy. And that would remove any complications with Wataru; if he's happy, if they can see that he's doing what he's been brought up to do, they might back off."

"You're proposing diplomacy with a hunter cell?" she asked.

"Why not?" the Executioner asked in response. "That would give the next Executioner some hunter ties, and if we worked on making sure that cell stays alive and reproducing, there might be several generations for us to draw on. Can you imagine third and fourth generation hunters that are willing to help instead of hinder us?"

"They wouldn't precisely be a hunter cell," she pointed out. "They'd be a group of helpers, nothing more. And how do you plan to breed hunters without making them resent it?"

He shrugged. "I'll figure out a way. Bring in new members, have them get married, make sure the next generation's indoctrinated. Can't be that hard."

"Speaking of that cell," she said, making sure her file was still straight and together, "You do realize you've left a Fandiri not only with humans, but with a hunter cell?"

The Executioner shrugged again. "It's not like they're going to harm him, Watcher. I'll have custody of him eventually... why make it more painful than it has to be? Besides, it's a hunter cell. I trust them to take care of him until I can hunt and capture him."

She resisted commenting on how strange it sounded to her, much less other Fangaire. Humans might be needed to feed upon and breed with, protected because of that, but she'd never heard of leaving a Fandiri with a biological human parent. It ran counter to making them suitable to being changed into Fangaire. Then again, if Wataru was the Executioner's apprentice, he was allowed some eccentricity; he'd be changed regardless.

"I'm aware of the risks, Watcher," the Executioner said. "I think they're worth it if I can do this."

"If you can do this," she echoed. She looked down at the file. "This is a risk that could destroy us."

"Or maybe just me," the Executioner said. "I better get Wataru and start training him then. You never know when we're going to need a new Executioner." His tone was laced with a wry humor. "Now that he's named as my successor, at least there will be a succession. Humans and Fangaire wither without change; I figure five years into the twenty-first century is a good time to start bridging ties with the hunters."

He got up. "Thank you, Watcher, for letting me look at these again. I'm sorry I won't be available for a while. I'll be busy hunting my apprentice and training him."

"I have a feeling that you will do what you need to do," she said simply.

Grinning at her, he bowed and left the room.

* * *

He'd called it right when he said that Wataru would eventually be allowed to leave his house. He'd had agents watching the Kurenai household and that's about the time it took for the family to relax its guard a little. Kivat shadowed the Fandiri when he went out, but that was of little matter. He'd shattered the armor once, he could do it again.

Of course, he hoped he'd gained enough intelligence that he could surprise Wataru, prevent him from grabbing Kivat and changing. That was one of the things he always did: measure the strength of his enemy, prevent that enemy from using those strengths. He should be able to grab Wataru fast, take him to the van, restrain him. Then he'd take the boy home.

And if it didn't prove to be that simple? Well, he'd enjoy the hunt. He was in good shape; if the boy ran, he'd follow, if he failed he at least would have a better idea of how Wataru behaved. More information made it easier to train Wataru to follow in his footsteps.

So he followed the boy, from a discreet distance. The trick would be to grab him while Kivat had scouted ahead far enough that he couldn't grab the bat. When Wataru ducked into an alley (a bad idea, the Executioner could have told him) , the Executioner grabbed the boy. A simple laced pad with a drug that worked best on Fandiri, a few minutes of struggle, and Wataru would be unconscious, ready to be taken to the van. He'd take measures, of course, to make sure Wataru didn't try to kill him on the way home, but otherwise it was going to be a simple operation.

Of course, everything didn't go quite as planned. Kivat may not have had weaponry, but he did have his wings, battering at the Executioner's face, trying to get him to let go of Wataru. Not that he could have swung at the bat; Wataru himself was trying valiantly to get the pad off his face before he collapsed, kicking the Executioner in the knee while clawing at his hands. The stalemate continued for a few minutes until Wataru succumbed to the chemicals, collapsing into the Executioner's arms.

"This child is in my custody," he told Kivat. "You were only holding off the inevitable. He is Fandiri, he will be with his own kind."

"Executioner," Kivat said, acknowledging him and his title. "He has family."

"I know," Executioner said. "And understand. But he can't hide being a Fandiri any longer. His family can't protect him, you can't protect him. Let me have what's mine." Why he was pleading with the bat, he wasn't sure. Maybe it was because he wanted Wataru's hunter cell to cooperate. Of course, for that he needed Wataru to cooperate. And for that, he needed to get Wataru home.

Kivat was still flapping around. "Give a message to his family for me. I will be seeing them. Go!"

Reluctantly, the bat complied. Executioner put Wataru down gently, jogging to his van to park it closer to the alley, and then hauling Wataru inside. There were manacles attached to the wall, and he put Wataru in them, not wanting to have any surprises. He stroked his hand through Wataru's hair while draining energy from him - more energy than one normally took when feeding, but excusable to keep Wataru from having the strength to do much of anything. The energy sated him and would speed the healing of his hands, knee, and face.

As expected, Wataru woke up on the drive to the Executioner's home. But he said nothing, the only notice the Executioner had that his new foster child was awake was the rapid clattering of the manacles. He said nothing also, preferring to wait and talk to Wataru when they arrived home.

At his house, he drove his van to its secluded driveway, parked it, and opened the back of the van. Wataru was sitting there, intent on trying to open the manacles, not paying attention to the Executioner or anything else. Single-minded, apparently. The Executioner would have to partially remedy that. "Hello, Wataru."

At his voice, the boy stopped, frozen in fear. The Executioner gestured at his manacles. "Will you behave if I take these off? Or will you run and make me hunt you down again?" He himself didn't know what he'd prefer; a game of cat and mouse in his own territory seemed like fun, but on the other hand, he wanted Wataru to settle in and accept his fate.

"Either way, it's up to you." He took the key and opened the manacles, stepping back and folding his arms. If Wataru ran, he ran.

But the Fandiri just looked at him dully. Executioner wondered if he'd miscalculated the drain, or if Wataru had been instructed on what to do if suddenly captured. Maybe both, he decided. "I do have food inside, if you want."

Still no response. Executioner had to wonder if he'd have to carry Wataru inside. It was very hard to force someone to eat, he knew; he might have to feed Wataru with energy instead of solid food. It wasn't something that could be done in the long run, but a day or two of energy feeding would keep the Fandiri alive until he got the idea that he was going to not be handed back to his cell, and that he was staying with the Executioner.

Or at least until he couldn't stand his stomach growling anymore. He was a teenage boy, after all. They, based on what he remembered, ate a lot. Wataru might grudgingly eat, but he would eat.

Wataru, after a few minutes, climbed out of the back of the van, staring up at the Executioner's home. He still didn't say anything, but he did move, much to the Executioner's relief. It was as if the boy was willing to admit that he was there for the moment. The Executioner could live with that; If needed, he'd just take care of the boy and keep him there until he realized that was where he was staying. And when Wataru finally realized it was home, then he'd start training him with all he needed to know to be the Executioner's apprentice.

Because, whether Wataru liked it or not, he was named as such and if the Executioner died, he would be changed so that he could fulfill his role, seventeen years old or not. The Executioner doubted he'd be dying anytime soon, but one never knew in his position. Chooser might have had the most difficult job, but the Executioner had the deadliest one.

He slipped an arm over the boy'd shoulders. "Let's get you fed and set your bedroom the way you like it. Then we need to have a talk." It was the best he could do at the moment, given Wataru's nonresponsiveness. If Wataru decided to open up, that was all well and good, and if he didn't? Well, the Executioner had sometimes waited weeks to get the best shot at a particularly slippery rogue Fangaire; he could wait for Wataru.

It turned out that he didn't need to feed Wataru with energy; the teenager ate, if mechanically. Not stupid then. Probably realized he'd been drained, too. There was too much intelligence in those eyes to indicate otherwise. Despite council orders, he hadn't fed Wataru anything that would bring out signs of his Fangaire ancestry. He was sure he'd get into some hot water on that, but as the Executioner's apprentice, Wataru would need stealth, and that meant blending in with the humans. If he needed to, he had the foods that would, but he just didn't see the point, especially since he figured Wataru needed to ease into his new life.

No matter what anyone else thought, he did know that getting Wataru to accept this change would not be easy. The markings that most Fandiri took pride in, Wataru had been taught to hide, and it would be a while, no doubt, that Wataru could accept what the markings meant. If Wataru seemed likely to start running away, he'd start feeding him those, but right now? If he wanted to make a connection, he had to reach out to the human that Wataru thought he was, and make him into the Fandiri he was and later the Fangaire he was going to be.

Showing Wataru to his room netted him the same mechanical acceptance Wataru had given the meal. He had to admit that he had no clue what Wataru liked, past the little things the Watcher's reserach had netted him. The room was a soothing peach; the dresser and bed were sturdy wood, as was the wardrobe. He'd bought a few shirts and pants based on what the Watcher knew of Wataru's measurements and tastes in clothing. He had yet to visit the Kurenai house to claim Wataru's belongings, as per tradition; he figured he'd put that off until he was sure that Wataru was able to feed himself and was a little more responsive, or when he was at the point where he started needing to make peace with the hunter cell Wataru had come from, whichever came first. He needed to integrate Wataru's past life with his new one anyway; the blending of those two worlds might not only ease Wataru's transition but give him valuable allies.

He let Wataru take a nap while he pondered how to approach his hunter cell. Kurenai Otoya was probably the best choice. The man had slept with a Fangaire at some point in his life; he obviously didn't hate the Executioner's kind. He may have even loved her, even if their coming together was to produce Wataru and nothing else. He'd have to ask the elder Kurenai when relations weren't so strained. Once he straightened out relations with Kurenai, the others would eventually come to accept things, especially if they still had access to their Fandiri hunter. The Executioner had no problems with Wataru having access to the armor when hunting a rogue, and after Wataru was changed, the Executioner would make sure they had access to the blood they needed for one of them to form the armor.

One sometimes had to be unconventional if one was going to survive.

Eventually, he heard noise - had to be Wataru coming down the stairs, since the two of them were the only ones in the house. If it was an unexpected guest, then he'd figure out what to do with them, but the plodding reassured him that it was just Wataru. If it was someone smart enough to act like Wataru, then he had a problem on his hands, and a Fandiri to check up on and protect.

Strange how he'd become so protective over the last week or so. But then again, even he was of the view that Fandiri should, as a whole, be raised by the Fangaire. A select few should be left to be raised by humans, in that his viewpoint differed, but that was only because he felt the Fangaire world needed shaking up, and where else were they going to get competent apprentices for his position anyway?

But it proved to be just Wataru, head hanging down, mechanically thumping his way down the stairs. The boy's head came back up to survey the room, though, which cheered the Executioner. Not stupid. Definitely wasn't stupid. Once he got his strength back, he'd probably be exploring the whole damn place and figuring out the best way to get out. Hopefully the Executioner wouldn't have to chase him down too often. But then again, it would be a good hunt.

Wataru knew how to hunt, too, but he'd probably not fought a full-blown Fangaire before, just humans. And he'd need to know how to do that. All the good reason to change him when he reached twenty, so he'd have the weaponry he needed to survive. The Executioner would share techniques, teach him to hunt even better than he was. Once Wataru had accepted his fate, he'd see how the boy was with weapons; until then, at least they could play cat and mouse.

And even if Wataru found a way to run home, he'd get the boy back. Maybe then he'd have a talk with Kurenai Otoya. Or even the two of them together. The two of them together would be good, though he doubted Wataru was stupid enough to go straight home. Maybe to the home of the Aso family or some other safehouse, but not straight home.

Ah well.

"Come in, Wataru," he said in his most disarming tone. "Have a seat; we need to talk."

Or at least he would talk. He had his doubts about Wataru.

Wataru walked quietly over to the seat that the Executioner had indicated and sat himself down. For the moment, he was obedient. He let Wataru settle into the armchair and made himself comfortable.

"I'm your foster parent," he said, aware that this might be an awkward talk after all. "The Fangaire council has given me custody of you. My job is to kill Fangaire that either have gone rogue or want to die. Both I and they thought that, due to your background, that we would get along better."

"You were the one that attacked me." The voice was barely audible, but it was a complete sentence, more than he'd expected to get at this stage in the game.

The Executioner nodded. "I set up a trap to catch you, or whoever was in the Kiva armor. We had some intelligence about your hunter cell, and your paperwork was a little... substandard. So we took a real rogue, fed your cell the information, and poof, you showed up. You've got very distinctive Fandiri patterning, by the way."

Wataru just looked at him. No response this time.

"There's a way to shatter the Kiva armor. I'll tell you someday, maybe after you've changed."

The boy's eyes widened at the last word. "My title among the Fangaire is 'Executioner'," he said, keeping an eye on Wataru. "For the reasons I explained before. You are not only my foster child, you're my apprentice. If and when I die someday, you'll step into my job. Since that might be tomorrow or centuries down the line, you need to be changed to full Fangaire so you'll be ready." He paused. "It's not, despite what you believe, a fate worse than death."

Wataru shook his head, but didn't say anything. It was as if that one simple sentence was all he was willing to say to someone he no doubt perceived as the enemy.

"Look at it this way, Wataru. It's what you were born to do. Just in a slightly different and legal way. If you go after rogues now, within reason it'll be legal. Of course, if you get it wrong, you'll have to explain it to me so I can explain it to them. And they'll be more comfortable if you don't solo hunt until your change."

He decided to leave out that he wanted Wataru to work with the cell he'd been born into, and certainly would leave out the plan to make sure that cell bred and continued until Wataru was ready to deal with that.

"You'll get used to it," he said. "In the meantime, I'm sure you saw the clothes. I have food for you to eat. Anything you need from where you grew up, I can pick it up. Except Kivat. I don't think he likes me very much." He paused. "This is your home now."

Wataru only shook his head. Not willing to accept yet, apparently. He shouldn't be surprised.

"I'll leave you to your thoughts. Library's upstairs, a few doors down from your room." He wondered how long it would take for Wataru to find the very cliched secret passage he'd had installed there. It was practical and fun at the same time. "Kitchen is out the door behind you and to the left." He hoped that Wataru would feed himself. Energy infusions were still not out of the question at this point.

* * *

Hiraoka Hotaru was sitting in the same chair that Wataru had occupied, a few days later. To his surprise, Wataru hadn't escaped yet, as far as he could tell. Maybe biding his time.

To be honest, he'd rather have Wataru. As uncommunicative as he was - the only thing the Executioner had gotten out of him than that one sentence was a few scattered "thank you"s - at least he wasn't about to ream the Executioner out for things that weren't quite proper.

He studied her. Her clothing was not old fashioned, not trendy. It spoke of someone who took care of accidental Fandiri turned over as babies and young children, one that was used to being spat upon in the brief time before she found homes for them. Wataru was probably the first child not handed over to her for the last few centuries, and that was only because the Executioner had used his pull. Needless to say, she was a one-woman social worker force when it came to the Fandiri, and she wasn't about to allow Wataru to escape without examination.

The Executioner had no doubt that if she'd gotten her hands on Wataru, he'd be even more withdrawn than he already was. She would have tried to force him to be Fandiri when he wasn't ready, and the Executioner would have had to undo that damage on top of getting Wataru to trust him and be his apprentice. He doubted she'd get a sentence out of Wataru, and the boy was speaking to him after a fashion. He counted that a victory.

"I saw Wataru," she said, speaking up. "Part of the condition of you getting custody of him was making sure he understood he was Fandiri. That boy is very much human. You haven't even fed him anything that would bring his patterning out."

"I rely on stealth, my lady," he said. "As my apprentice, he needs to as well. I'd rather he slowly realize what he is than get used to having them. Besides, if I force him to display his patterning, he won't trust me, and if he won't trust me, he won't see the point - and the pride - of being Fandiri." He wasn't about to mention the part about making sure Wataru stayed integrated with his cell. He was sure she wouldn't like it. "He's a hunter by nature. Give him time to understand that some of that - a lot of it - comes from his Fangaire heritage."

"You're sure you can convince the boy?" she asked, obviously doubtful. The Executioner thought, somewhat amusedly, that for all their time together, Hotaru didn't know him all that well.

"He's a hunter. I'm a hunter. We understand each other." He looked at her. "This is not a big change for him. The more comfortable he is, the faster he'll adjust being Fandiri. I realize this is not a traditional way of handling hidden Fandiri, but he is not traditional, and my job requires being unconventional. We fit together."

"Please tell me you're going to do some things traditionally, like retrieve his belongings from his family?"

"Of course," he said. "I'm sure that he'd like to have his clothes. And violin." He paused. "He is a violinist, after all."

She nodded. "I don't like it," she said, "But I grant that you need an apprentice, and it is something useful for him to keep his mind occupied. I'll be watching his adaptation, though. If you can't handle him, I'll make sure I find someone who can."

"Oh, I can handle him," the Executioner said. "He's not going to start killing Fangaire left and right. He's not stupid. He was brought up by smart people who just happen to want to kill rogues, that's all."

"I should let you know," she said, "That I couldn't stand to see him looking like a human. I fed him. He's got lovely markings, you know." She paused. "And to rebut your point about stealthiness - who expects a Fandiri to hunt?"

The Executioner thought about that, and conceded that she had a very good point. "I'll bring that up with him. That's something both he and I should be thinking about."

"I'm glad I could help." She paused. "Has he said a word since he got here?"

"Yes," the Executioner said. "Not much, a few words, but I think he'll open up." Especially after he brought Kurenai Otoya to come visit his son. "I think he'll adapt better than any other hunter-raised Fandiri you've seen."

"Given the failure rate with those Fandiri, I hope you're right," Hotaru said. She sighed. "I want this to go right for once."

"So do I, my lady," the Executioner said. "I'll keep working with him. I think you'll be pleased by the results."

"I hope so," she said. "The rest of the council would like to see him too, eventually. And, even though his circumstances are special, so would Chooser. I trust you can convince him to wear his markings for them?"

"I can try," he said. "And if he trusts me, he'll do it. He is Fandiri. He just is working on realizing that."

She nodded. "Then that is all I can ask." She looked at him. "Just remember, Executioner: he is a child. If you can't protect him, I'll find someone who can."

"Understood." There wasn't much more to say after that. He knew she meant well, knew that more than anybody else the protection of the Fandiri was of the utmost importance. He was also sure that letting Wataru reassociate with his cell was not what she'd consider protecting him. But Wataru was his child now, and he'd protect the boy. Even from her.

* * *

Wataru tried to escape two days later.

Or more accurately, he did escape - using that little hidden passage leading just almost to the back door, slipping out in silence. He had probably been waiting to regain his strength and for some event like Hiraoka-san's visit to take his leave.

Any other new Fangaire foster parent would probably have been panicking. The Executioner gave him a one minute head start once he heard the distinct, though soft, closing of the back door.

His house was still more familiar to him than it was to Wataru; for the moment, he had the advantage. His estate had high walls, though again there was a hidden door there, too. He wondered if Wataru had mind enough to locate it, or if he'd try to scramble over the wall, or even try to push the gates open. He was small enough that he could probably slip through if he tried on the gates; the walls were rough cement, so he could try that too.

The Executioner wasn't too worried. He strode out the back door, looking and listening for a taletell scramble or push. He didn't hear either. The hidden door seemed still to be closed. He strode along the path, quietly, coming upon Wataru as Wataru was contemplating using a tree branch to help him over the fence. The Executioner made a note to have it trimmed.

"I don't think that's going to work, Wataru," he said, and the boy twirled around so suddenly he almost lost his footing. "It could, I suppose, but not today." He paused. "You'd need a stronger branch." He demonstrated by pulling on the branch, which obligingly snapped. "See? If you're going to use improvisation to get over a wall, make sure it works."

Wataru blinked at him, likely uncomprehending as to why he'd be giving tips on how to scale his own wall.

"It probably isn't the first wall you've scaled," Executioner said, "It definitely won't be your last." He paused. "Let's go back inside."

He took the boy by his shoulders and led him back inside. "As I said, Wataru, what I'm training you for isn't much different from what you were being trained for before. I don't have a problem with you trying to scale my walls, though there are easier ways to get out." He'd let Wataru chew on that one. "I'm not your enemy. I'm your foster parent. There's a difference."

Wataru shot him a look as if to say "Oh, really?" but still kept his mouth shut.

"I have a trip up to Tokyo tomorrow," he said. "If you leave, I'll hunt you down; it's part of the promise I made to the council. But I hope you stay; I think you might like to stick around to see what I bring back."

He hoped that Wataru knew enough about the Fangaire that he'd think that the Executioner was coming back with his belongings. He was hoping to bring more. Like, say, Kurenai Otoya. That was technically forbidden, but if it would get Wataru to open up, it was all well and good.

Besides, he was terrible with tradition, at least when it came to things other than killing people. He freely admitted that; the council still forgave him anyway. It was good to be the Executioner.

* * *

After leaving Wataru with free run of the house, the Executioner drove to the Kurenai house, a lovely, elegant home on the outskirts of Tokyo. It suited what he'd heard of Kurenai Otoya, and it had plenty of room for a hidden Fandiri to grow up in.

He rang the doorbell, hoping that the man would hear him out. Kivat would be able to recognize him even if Kurenai Otoya did not, so at the very least he could claim Wataru's possessions, but he hoped for more.

"Yes?" Kurenai Otoya asked, stepping out of the house. His face was already tense; Kivat must have told him who his visitor was.

"Kurenai Otoya?" the Executioner asked. "I'm sure you know who I am." A tight, tense nod confirmed that the man did know who he was. And probably why he was there. Well, part of the reason why he was there. "Can I come in?"

The man looked like he was about to refuse. "I really suggest you don't drag this out. It'll be easier for Wataru to adapt if he's not being held back." He chose his words carefully; he wanted to give this man a clue that not all was as it seemed.

Finally, reluctantly, Kurenai Otoya nodded and came forward to unlock the gate. The Executioner made sure to be the epitome of politeness; it was not only expected, but he didn't want to irritate the man any more than was needed.

As the man politely guided him to a chair, he said, "I know this is traumatic for you‚" he said. "Wataru's in good hands. And he's been raised well; thank you for that."

For a man who charmed with words and music, Kurenai was unusually quiet. Probably still stressed by the sudden seperation of Wataru from his home and his life. It occurred to the Executioner that Otoya - he was planning to know the man to the point of calling him by his first name anyway - was grieving for the son that he'd lost.

"I come to ask you for his clothes and belongings," he said, ritual demanding the words. "I also hope to take home more."

Otoya looked tired. Older than he'd been that night at the Rogue's house. The Executioner mentally hoped he'd make the connection without the Executioner having to spell it out. "More?" Otoya asked, not confused, trying to put the pieces together. "What more can you take 'home' to him other than what he owns?"

"Much more‚" the Executioner said. "Maybe his most precious belongings." Kivat, and his father. Heck, his whole cell, but the Executioner doubted he'd achieve that in one day.

"What could be more precious, than love and life?" Otoya asked. "Belongings are disposable. What is more precious is what cannot be bought or sold."

Oh, yes. Otoya himself had been quite the wanderer in his life. It had only been a few years before Wataru's birth that the man had settled down to make violins - and even then, he'd been romancing the ladies. The Executioner recalled that from Otoya's bio. "Maybe it's that precious thing that I want to take home, that living love." Otoya no doubt loved his son; the Executioner guessed that Kivat had grown attached to the Fandiri as well.

Otoya settled down in his own chair. "That sounds almost like you want Kivat." His wariness was obvious. The Executioner didn't blame him; Kivat was a powerful weapon, if they had the blood... or a second Fandiri. He made a mental note to ask the Watcher how Aso Megumi's paperwork looked and if she could be tested as well. Wouldn't do to let the cell sneak another Fandiri in under the Fangaire council's nose.

"If he consents." The Executioner knew all too well that Kivat was intelligent; no use pretending he wasn't, or his opinions didn't matter. "Kivat is not a belonging."

"You realize we're not about to hand him to a Fangaire?" Otoya pointed out. "He wouldn't let himself be, either."

"I haven't lived centuries by being stupid, and neither has he," the Executioner said. "But he isn't the only one I had in mind."

Realization came to Otoya's face. "You want me?"

"Well,‚" the Executioner said, "You are his father. His living biological relative. Why not?"

"Usually," Wataru's father said, "Fangaire don't invite the human parents to come have visitation rights." Unspoken was the fact that they especially didn't like hunters to have visitation rights.

"Wataru is a special case," the Executioner said. "I think he'll settle in a little bit easier if he's not cut off from contact with his family. You and Kivat are his family."

"A Fangaire is inviting me to see my son." Something he had apparently never suspected or thought was possible, and the Executioner could see other thoughts forming. Ones that were suspicious and distrusting of the offer, the fact that it could be a trap. The Executioner wished that he could tell Otoya that apart from Kivat, they were considered pretty damn harmless with Wataru in proper custody.

"A wise person adapts to the times," the Executioner said. "Wataru is your child."

"Not legally," Otoya said, inspecting his ceiling instead of focusing on his guest. "Not anymore. Thanks to you."

"I'm not the one who left Wataru's paperwork so full of holes that the dimmest Fangaire could see that you were hiding his true nature," the Executioner countered.

"What's one child out of a hundred, or a thousand?" Otoya asked. "His mother and I loved each other - Wataru was her gift to me." His fingers moved in a languid imitation of a director's baton. "I made sure he could defend himself."

"You taught him to fight," the Executioner pointed out. "But that's not the issue to us. Fangaire are rather... possessive about their children, if you haven't noticed."

"So are humans," Otoya said simply. "Wouldn't you give up everything - or at least almost everything - for your child?"

"Up to and including die for him, yes," the Executioner said. "Funny what a child's presence does to one." If he botched this, if the Council got serious, then he'd be the one executed, and Wataru would be forced into change at the age of 17, but he didn't mention this to the untrusting human. Better the man not realize what a risk the Executioner was involved in. Emotional appeals probably wouldn't work; Otoya may have been a romantic, but they were enemies, at least right at the moment.

Romantics were good at imagining enemies if it helped boost them up.

"So, you stalked him, and now you want to save him." Otoya stopped looking at the ceiling, narrowing his focus onto the Executioner.

"I stalked him to save him," the Executioner retorted. "If I didn't, someone else would have, and they'd have been a lot more unpleasant."

"What do you want with me?" Otoya asked. "Just take Wataru's things and go." The Executioner could guess his thoughts clearly; Otoya thought that this was some big galactic joke aimed at a grieving father, or, still, a trap. Or maybe he hoped that he could cut that part of himself off until Wataru reached legal adulthood.

"There is more to this world than belongings, you said." The Executioner recalled Otoya's words. "I know that this may be an unusual request, but I don't want to cut you out of his life. Quite the opposite. But it's not going to happen unless you take a risk and come with me. Talk to him."

"Convince him he's better off where he is?" Otoya asked, closing his eyes once more. "I won't do that to him."

"I wouldn't expect you to," the Executioner answered. "If you did, I wouldn't be interested in you."

That did cause Otoya to blink, at least until he regained his composure, trying to pretend he'd never been startled.

"As a hunter, of course," he amended. "As a fellow fighter. Your son's tried to escape once; he's pretty smart. You taught him well."

"Thank you," Otoya said. "Will you return him to me?"

"That, I can't do," the Executioner replied, wondering if the contact had been such a good idea after all. The man was still in pain after losing Wataru, after all. "But I can bring you to him. And if you think this is a trap... which I would expect any hunter worth respecting to do... bring whatever you think you need. Within reason."

Otoya nodded. "Excuse me," he said politely, and ducked into another room. The Executioner heard murmurs of a hushed cellphone conversation. Maybe one of the other hunters would come and let him kill two birds with one stone. That would be better than expected! And Wataru would like it too.

When Otoya returned, the Executioner asked mildly, "I take it you invited one of the others to come."

Otoya nodded. "I've taken... precautions. They should be arriving in about twenty minutes."

"Maybe enough time to gather Wataru's belongings, then," the Executioner said. "Clothes, violins, whatever."

There was a growing pile of clothes, books, a violin, and various and sundry tools by the time the doorbell rang. It was a good thing, the Executioner thought, that he'd brought boxes. Otoya fetched in his guest, who turned out to be Aso Yuri. Most probably the best fighter of the bunch; it was obvious why Otoya had chosen her. "Yuri," Otoya said, "This is the Executioner."

"So this is what you look like in your human guise," she said, studying him. Memorizing him. Analyzing how much a threat he was to them, though he was sure that Kivat could have provided her with that information. Maybe figuring out the best way to strike, if it came down to that.

Otoya was a fighter, but he was also their thinker. It was no wonder that his son had discovered the secret passage. Wataru might have better lockpicking and other skills than he had fighting skills. At that point, the Executioner was hoping everything would clear itself up soon so he could get a proper idea of Wataru's skill set.

"I've come here to talk, not to fight," the Executioner said simply. "To help make peace with what's happened."

"And to pick up Wataru's belongings," Otoya added sharply.

"That too." He preferred to remain unfazed by the words. "If you'll help me finish boxing these up, we can move them to my van and get started."

Once they were all in, he put them in the back. For one, it would be harder for them to trace the route to his house, and secondly, it would hopefully make the two of them more secure. "I see you're into manacles," Yuri said, her tone sharp. "Recently, too."

"Wataru," he explained. Best to be honest. "You're hunters; I couldn't take the chance."

"You put Wataru in manacles?" Yuri demanded.

"As I said, you're hunters, Wataru's a hunter, I really thought that you'd prefer me to get Wataru home in one piece." He didn't know why he was babbling on. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't thought to remove the manacles. Or maybe he wanted to make a good impression.

Funny how the reactions of these humans mattered more to him at the moment than the council's desires.

Maybe it was because he had more, oddly enough, in common with them than with the council. Maybe because he had more to gain if he got them on his side.

He parked his van in its same shady, secluded spot and debated wether to bring Wataru's belongings or Yuri and Otoya first. Then he realized that Wataru had enough clothes and other things at the moment; an hour or two's delay in bringing his belongings in wouldn't matter. Reestablishing Wataru's ties with his hunter cell was more important. Who knew, maybe it would make it easier for Wataru to transition as well, once he felt safe about his environment.

Leading the two into his home, he hoped they wouldn't attack him in hopes of grabbing Wataru and running. Of course, all of Wataru's belongings were in the van, but his previous conversation with Otoya indicated the man was willing to give up all he had if it meant those he loved were safe. Maybe they were holding off because Wataru was in there, and for all they knew, held hostage. Of course, that was assuming the boy was there at all; Wataru could very well be halfway to Tokyo by now. If he was, then probably Otoya and Yuri would be proud, but it had meant they'd wasted a trip.

But Wataru was there, slouched in an armchair, reading one of the books from the library. A classic book on tactics, the Executioner was proud to see. The boy definitely wasn't stupid.

He looked up at their entrance. "Father?" he asked, at something resembling normal volume. The only times the Executioner had heard him speak, he was either talking quietly to Kivat, or he was mumbling, in the few times he'd deigned to speak to the Executioner. "Yuri-san?"

Otoya enveloped his son with a big hug while Yuri watched. Careful, these hunters were. Or maybe Yuri wasn't touchy-feely.

"Are you all right?" Yuri asked. Maybe she was maternal after all, just watchful. They were in his house, after all.

"I'm fine," Wataru said. The Executioner was suddenly glad he hadn't forced Wataru to display his patterning; it would not have gone well with these two people. Besides, even he was used to Wataru's human guise, and to have him patterened would have seemed forced to him.

There were some consequences to staying in human form and staying stealthy, after all.

Indicating two spare chairs that he'd left in the room, he said, "Please, sit down." He'd hoped leaving a chair or two in the room would assuage Wataru's fears. He'd had them anyway, for the times the council had visited him. He sat down in the chair facing Wataru's; the two hunters drew up chairs to either side of Wataru, as if forming a protective perimeter.

Protecting him from the Executioner, who wouldn't harm him. It was almost funny. Scratch that, it was funny. When it came to Wataru, they were all on the same side.

"I'm glad you all came," he said. The conversation was suddenly awkward, as if he hadn't really been expecting Kurenai Otoya, much less Aso Yuri to come. But they were really there. Or at least the other two. Wataru had been there and really wasn't going anywhere, at least at the moment. Personally, Executioner wanted him to try to escape a few more times so that when he calmed down, or at least started talking, the Executioner could fix any deficiencies.

"I take it this really isn't a family reunion," Otoya said. Yuri tensed.

"It is and isn't," the Executioner said. "But I'm not going to kill Wataru's family right in front of him, so if you'd please relax?"

That didn't seem to placate Yuri or Otoya, which was too bad but not much he could do about it. It looked like he'd have to gain their trust over time, same as with Wataru.

"First of all, I wanted to let you all see that everybody's safe and still alive," the Executioner said. "I don't want the enmity of your group. I intend to treat Wataru well; he is as precious to me as he is to you."

"I doubt it," Yuri said.

He gave her a wry smile. "Believe it or not, he is." The next Executioner. Hell, Wataru was important to the council, too, for the same reason.

Neither of the hunters bothered to respond, so he pressed on. "I'm calling for a peace treaty here, an understanding. Wataru is in my care, I want him to realize that. I want his cell not to try to retrieve him." He let those words sink in. "I need Wataru to act Fandiri so that our equivalent of a social worker doesn't take him away."

"And what do we get in return?" Otaru asked, as wary as Yuri but not seemingly as likely to brandish a hidden weapon and try to stab the Executioner in the heart.

"Visitation rights. In a few years, maybe the ability to hunt rogues legally."

Yuri's eyes widened. Otoya gave a stiff nod. Both of them seemed cautious, but the lure of being able to hunt legally was giving him an edge with Yuri. Otoya seemed more interested in keeping contact with his son. For which he didn't blame Otoya.

"Your cell hunts the same things I do," the Executioner said. "It's an advantage to have an apprentice with connections to a hunter cell - I'd like Wataru to have a little support."

Though they might not be too pleased with the fact that in a matter of years, Wataru would be changed to full Fangaire; even the milder hunter cells seemed to have an objection to that happening to those they raised. Not that anybody hunter-born had been changed before, but even the threat could rile up the cell they came from.

He regarded the two of them and Wataru. On top of recruiting them, maybe he could get Otoya and Yuri to breed, either with each other or other hunters. Their cell would have to recruit more members too. Wataru should be bred, too, before he was changed. His children could still have enough Fangaire in them to summon the armor.

But that was for later, after he'd gained the cell's trust, and Wataru's. In the meantime, he had taken the first steps. Wataru might trust him a bit more, and he might not have to worry about attempts to kidnap the boy back.

"This won't be official," The Executioner said, "It's certainly not supported. I'm trying something new here. But I believe that it's something that, if we get right, it may be a change in how the Fandiri - at least some of them - are raised. Though most of them are surrendered long before they can remember their human parents."

A fact that annoyed humans that wanted to raise Fandiri offspring. But even he believed that the Fandiri were first and foremost Fangaire, not human. And if humans were allowed to have a hand in raising their Fandiri offspring, they had to be brought to understand this.

It was a mindset that he had to get Wataru to assume. Wataru had been brought up as something he couldn't be out of necessity, but it was time to change, if a little.

"I should get you something to eat - and I'm sure the two of you want to make sure Wataru's all right." Their chance to talk could cement Wataru's acceptance of his new life, so the Executioner didn't have a problem with that. He moved off to the kitchen, flipping a hidden control that would let him hear what was going on in his living room. There was nothing wrong with being a little cautious. Outward acceptance didn't mean inward acceptance, after all.

* * *

Yuri watched as the Fangaire disappeared into the kitchen. "Is it safe to talk?" she asked Wataru quietly.

"Maybe," Wataru replied hesitantly. "I don't know."

"Thanks for the confident reply, Wataru," Yuri snapped, though she didn't mean to. They were inside a Fangaire's house, a Fangaire that was, from Kivat's accounts, dangerous as hell, tricky as anything. Not someone she'd choose to have responsibility to care for Wataru. He probably had been playing mind games with Wataru as well.

"Are you okay?" his father asked, the question that, as far as Yuri was concerned, didn't matter at the moment. She wasn't sure if she could trust Wataru's responses either. But the bastard had a point; Wataru was known to the Fangaire now, and one way or another, he'd be stuck with one until they decided he acted enough like one.

And as slippery as this one was, he might hold the key to getting Wataru to fake his way into that, to get Wataru free from the nightmare he was in. Wataru was good at running and hiding, moderately good at fighting, and thank goodness not a Casanova like his father.

Not to mention that, if the offer was on the level, they'd have access to Wataru to counteract any brainwashing. Keep him reasonably human. If the offer was on the level.

Wataru nodded as a response to his father's questions. "He's mostly left me alone. I did try to escape once, and he pointed out that the tree branch was unstable, but he didn't punish me for escaping."

Yuri frowned at that. Obviously the man was trying to wiggle into Wataru's heart first, trying to get Wataru to trust him. Which, given how Wataru probably felt, was a distinct possibility. Probably soon the visits would cease and Wataru would be on his own until he was twenty.

At twenty, by twenty, they had to rescue him. She'd talked to Kivat about the various and sundry "hereditary" positions, of which the Executioner was one. The Fandiri that the titled Fangaire took as apprentices were always changed into Fangaire early into legal adulthood, and Executioners tended to be changed as soon as possible. No way in hell would she allow Wataru to be changed into Fangaire. As much as she loved him, she couldn't allow him to become like the Executioner.

As much as she loved him, she couldn't allow him to be cursed with that existence. Not somebody she loved.

Right at the moment, he looked tired, defeated. She had to wonder if the Executioner drained him daily to keep him complacent. She wanted to take him away from here, but it was probably better to let him be for the moment. The Executioner might play games with him, but the Fangaire wouldn't kill him. In the meantime, if she and the others could find where he lived exactly, they could organize a raid when he was out. But then again, they'd have to find a safe place for Wataru to live after that, since he was, again, known to the Fangaire.

"Wataru, has he said anything to you about training?" she asked.

Wataru nodded. "He says that as soon as I settle in, he wants to get to know what I can do," he said.

Yuri thought about that. "I'm sure he does."

"He's not making you show your patterns," Otoya said, examining his son's face. "At least not right now." She caught the implication in his words. The Executioner wanted them to relax, so Wataru was not forced to show his distinctive Fandiri patterning. Personally, Yuri had always loathed how Wataru looked when he had eaten something that forced him to pattern. A reminder of what he'd been forced to hide.

"He hasn't since I got here," Wataru said. "The Fangaire council, though, says I have to."

Yuri wanted to take Wataru home so badly at that moment. Take him to safety, make him feel more human again. But she couldn't. Not that day, not that moment. Later.

She would save him from the monster coming back in with the sandwiches.

* * *

Otoya watched the Executioner as he served the sandwiches, first to himself, then to Yuri and Wataru. He hadn't been pleased by the appearance of the Executioner, though he understood that it was what happened after the Fangaire discovered that one was hiding a half- Fangaire like Wataru. That he expected; to be invited to the man's house was not.

Kivat had told him and Yuri about the Executioner, and what it meant for Wataru if the man took Wataru for an apprentice. He had less objections than Yuri to Wataru being changed to full Fangaire, but he hadn't voiced them to Yuri. He'd learned very early on not to do that. Yuri hadn't been fond of Wataru's mother Naoko from the start, and she preferred to pretend that Wataru was human except when it was convenient for him to be half-Fangaire.

Part of it was Otoya's application of his innate charm; part of it was that Yuri just didn't like the Fangaire but she preferred to make examples out of the worst ones. Otoya knew through Naoko that most Fangaire weren't that bad, even if they did drink energy from humans. And sometimes had the bizarre notion that humans were like cattle, something that he'd pretty much talked Naoko out of.

He missed Naoko; she'd been good company. But to keep Wataru safe, to keep him hidden, they'd both agreed that Otoya and the others should raise Wataru. Naoko too had believed that her peoples' extremists needed to be destroyed, and that it was the humans' rights to destroy them. Thus Wataru had been born.

Yuri had pretty much been the mother Naoko couldn't be to Wataru. It was why he'd invited her along when the Executioner had given permission to bring along someone else. That, and she'd raise hell if he'd gone without her; she apparently thought he needed a reality check a lot of the time.

It didn't hurt that Yuri was a damned good fighter and he'd prefer her at his back just in case something went wrong.

Wataru was eating the sandwich, while Yuri was trying hard not to glare balefully at hers. Wataru seemed to be okay, so Otoya started on his. He considered the "peace treaty" the Executioner had offered.

If he kept his side of the bargain, they'd still have contact with Wataru. If not, he doubted the rest of the cell would hesitate to rally behind Yuri if she decided to take the Fangaire out.

The problem, Kivat had pointed out to him later after Yuri had left, was that the Fangaire might decide to concentrate their efforts on recovering and changing Wataru since he was the Executioner's apprentice and a member of the offending cell. Fangaire could carry grudges just as well as humans.

"Obviously, most of the time, Wataru needs to be with me. And when he's around other Fangaire and Fandiri, he needs to be patterned – I know you all hate that, but it's necessary so that he doesn't get taken away."

Otoya saw the slight change of expression on Yuri's face. She wasn't keen on Wataru being the Executioner's apprentice because he would be changed, and maybe she was thinking it was better to throw Wataru to another Fangaire in the hopes that he'd be allowed to live a relatively normal life in a few years. Of course, if the Executioner felt like holding true to his promises, Wataru would have them to remind him of who he was. A little learning of deception and other skills wouldn't hurt Wataru anyway, enabling him to fight against the rogue Fangaire more effectively. And Yuri, once she got over the fact that Wataru might have to become Fangaire, might realize what an opportunity they had if they could hunt rogues legally. He'd caught the look on her face before she realized that it was a Fangaire offering the chance.

"How do we work this?" Otoya wondered. "Exchange phone numbers?"

"If you both agree not to try to 'rescue' him," the Executioner said, seemingly aware that Yuri might have a problem with him, or at least his existence, "Then I'll give you my address and phone number. You can see Wataru whenever you want, within reason."

"Wataru's tried to escape once," Yuri pointed out. "What do you expect us to do if he gets away? Turn him over to you?" Her scowl indicated that might be a hard sell.

"I would hope Wataru wouldn't run," the Executioner said, looking at Wataru. "If he went home, well, for one, that's not very tactically sound, is it? That would be the first place I'd look. If I found him, I'd take him back. But I wouldn't expect you to turn him over to me."

Yuri nodded in acknowledgement of the Executioner's point, and the fact that she would not be forced to turn Wataru over to a Fangire unless that Fangaire turned up at her doorstep. But he also noticed the undercurrent in the Executioner's words; he wasn't just making the point to Yuri, but also to Wataru, as if giving pointers on how not to get caught. It made sense what Wataru had told them earlier.

The Executioner was, in his own way, trying to help Wataru. He might not understand the frustration that Otoya and Yuri had, that Wataru was human as well as Fangaire, but he was trying to turn Wataru into a better person. Or at least a better hunter.

Otoya wondered if Wataru realized the Executioner had started training him. Maybe not. He'd talk to Wataru, see if Wataru saw what he saw. Made sure that Wataru took the opportunities that the Executioner offered.

Otoya might be fanciful sometimes, but he was more practical than Yuri thought he was. Yuri would keep Wataru human even if he was turned Fangaire, if she could get over the revulsion of him being changed.

He didn't precisely like the Executioner, but he could live with him 'parenting' Wataru for a few years. Especially since Wataru was old enough that it would be more like apprenticing him in a trade, one that Otoya could live with.

The Executioner finally got grudging acceptance of his proposal from the two human hunters and made sure they had the address, or at least Otoya did. He was still a bit worried about Yuri; she'd accepted the compromise far less enthusiastically than Otoya had.

Otoya was recovering from his grief just fine, it looked like. He was the type that bounced right back, and really just had trouble with the rogues. Which was fine, because the Executioner had problems with the rogues too. The Executioner was less worried about Wataru; with Otoya as a father, he probably had the right attitude. The Executioner just had to let him open up, and if things had gone well with Wataru, he just might.

* * *

He fed Wataru dinner. It wasn't fancy, the Executioner was okay with food but not a top chef. He'd used the Internet and some books to get an idea of what was good for a growing Fandiri. After all, he'd never had an apprentice before, much less a foster child. For some reason, he wasn't on Hotaru's list of top foster parents.

Now that Wataru had seen his human family, it was time to discuss things with the boy. Like why it was so important for the Executioner to have an apprentice and everything that was going on. He'd given Wataru some time to arrange his room to his liking, and as a show of trust, had also left him his violinmaking equipment. He'd have to ask Wataru about supplies to actually make violins – it would keep Wataru's eye/hand coordination sharp and he doubted Wataru would make the mistake of trying to stab him with an awl.

Of course, maybe Wataru would surprise him. Keeping on one's toes was good. And it would be a way for him to distract the Executioner long enough for Wataru to escape.

He, however, was not going to clue Wataru into that until Wataru was past his escaping stage.

He drew the boy to the living room. "Did you enjoy your visit with your family?" Yuri might not have been biologically related to Wataru, but there was no doubt in the Executioner's mind that she was a mother figure to the boy. All the more reason to become familiar with both of them.

A brief nod from Wataru, who, as the Executioner looked at him, seemed a bit dazed. Well, a lot had gone on that day, and it was probably emotionally trying. Not that he was sure, because Wataru was hard to read, and he wasn't sure if that was Wataru's nature, because he'd had to hide that he was Fandiri for so long, or because he was still wary of the Executioner.

It could be any or all of them. He'd just have to pay attention to the hints that Wataru gave off as he continued to live there.

"Good." He smiled at Wataru. "Your room in order?" A nod again. Maybe Wataru was still a bit reticent.

"That's also good. Now that I know your family's not going to kidnap you, maybe I should explain a little bit about what it means to be my apprentice." He relaxed in the chair. Doors were secured, if Wataru decided to run screaming he'd have to figure out how to unlock the door in a panic. Of course, Wataru could have studied the door for moments like that.

"Every Fangaire that has held the Executioner position has done two things. One is end the lives of those who ask their lives to be ended. This is a big ceremonial thing; if we get any of those, we have to both be rather formal." He rolled his eyes. Ceremonial getup and Wataru was going to have to not blend in. Okay, he would blend in with any other Fandiri. And he would not look out of place at the ceremony.

"The other is killing Fangaire that kill humans. Killing a human is pretty much a death sentence, unless one can prove that they did have the means to kill you, or it's accidental. Accidental usually means the human courts. Self defense... well, most Fangire don't have much luck in pleading that. The humans have to be going after you on purpose and have the means to do so, which usually means a hunter cell or someone working for a rogue Fangaire. I've gone several times before the judging council on such a charge; fortunately, as Executioner, they give me a little leeway.

"We're the ones who hunt the rogues. The council likes it if we subdue, not kill, the rogue, but that's not always possible. Sometimes, like the rogue that you were hunting when I captured you the first time, we have to end their lives right then and there. But the judging council prefers we leave them alive for trial, for obvious reasons. And they like to see the kill. Executioners always sit on those trials because the death sentence is pretty much immediate." He gazed at Wataru, trying to gauge his reaction. "That again is pretty formal getup."

He thought about what else to say. "Because of the nature of our work, you'll be changed when you're twenty or twenty-one. You need the strength and armor a Fangaire form provides. But on the other hand, we get a lot of leeway on how we do our jobs and deal with the council. As long as we can be showy for them, they leave us alone. Right now, I'm having to deal with them because you're a hunter and my apprentice, and some Fangaire don't get that you don't act like a typical Fandiri."

Wataru had wrinkled his nose at the mention of being changed. Executioner wondered if he'd get used to things before then, or if he'd try to run if they tried to change him. Wataru had shown the ability to wait and plan, and somewhat to improvise.

"In any case, now that you're somewhat settled in, I'll teach you what you need to know. And some things so you can fake being a typical Fandiri so that certain Fangaire will leave you alone."

His apprentice wasn't stupid; he would learn. And maybe the threat of beginning training would spur him to try to escape one more time. Otherwise the Executioner was going to have to find creative ways to test him.

"Don't worry. You'll get it."

The next few days were as slow as the first. To the Executioner's surprise, and somewhat disappointment, Wataru did settle in and didn't try escaping. Maybe he was biding his time again. He was certainly exploring the place.

To liven things up, he slipped herbs into Wataru's breakfast, and the boy started displaying his distinctive patterning. "Always be ready for surprises," he said.

Wataru started making his own breakfast and meals after that.

The Executioner encouraged Wataru to set up a workshop, and started supplying him the materials he needed to make violins. It would keep Wataru busy, and it wouldn't hurt to sell them. Quite a few people would buy violins hand-made by a Fandiri.

After all, they had the leisure time. The Executioner was not needed every day. Or at least hopefully not every day. Which reminded him, two weeks into Wataru's training, that he needed to discuss other things with his apprentice.

It was after a visit by Yuri and Otoya. He'd promised them that as long as they didn't try to retrieve Wataru, they could visit him, and the Executioner intended to keep that promise. He felt that it was wise to show Yuri that he, a Fangaire, could keep a promise to a human.

Otoya had looked with approval at Wataru's new workspace, while Yuri had only half-successfully tried to pretend she wasn't bored by the whole thing. Judging from what she'd said to Wataru, she was trying to keep him from losing his humanity. The Executioner could have laughed. Did laugh, when they were gone, when Wataru was making dinner. Of course, Yuri also hadn't been pleased about Wataru's tale about suddenly patterning after breakfast that day.

Yuri, it seemed, had more problems about than Wataru did, though he still only did so reluctantly. The Executioner had foods that would cause a reaction faster than others, just in case Hotaru showed up wanting to check on Wataru. That was about the only time he made Wataru pattern. After all, no rogues and no requests to die meant he didn't have to deal with Council formalities.

He finally found time to sit Wataru down. It was important that Wataru understood some things he and the council hadn't discussed in Wataru's earshot.

"There are about a thousand Fangaire, give or take a hundred," Executioner said as Wataru sipped at some tea he'd made for himself. "When the numbers start dipping below about 980, Chooser starts hunting for new Fangaire among the Fandiri population. You won't see him in that capacity since you're automatically chosen, but you will meet him. He starts Fangaire lives, we end them.

"Right now, the reason I've had so much pressure to find an apprentice is because of certain things going on in the Fangaire socialsphere," Executioner said. "There's a sizeable minority who think there are too many humans out there, and that we should cull humans for the stability of the planet and for the stability of basically our food supply. It's the green movement with a dangerous twist. Most of them are just talk, no action, but the council's expecting a growing group of them to put their actions where their mouths are."

Noting Wataru's expression, he added, "Humans are there to feed from and to breed with, Wataru. That's the Fangaire attitude. Eventually you'll come to see it that way, as you grow older. You may not believe it now, especially since you remain in contact with your cell, but it's true. It may also take you longer to believe this because you're still in close contact with your parents - well, your father and Yuri." If Yuri had been Wataru's mother, they wouldn't be having this conversation. It was so easy to think of her as Wataru's mother, though.

"There's going to be a lot more dead humans, some - maybe quite a few - internationally. A lot of them - the Fangaire, that is - are going to be brought to be judged - a lot more workload for us. A lot more deadly too, because some of them aren't going to come along quietly. Especially as news rolls around that you're hunter-raised. Some of them aren't going to take that kindly." The council was definitely not going to be happy about Wataru's connection to his cell, but he hoped that it would be forgiven, since they needed their Executioner. Unless something blew up with the hunter cell, like they started hunting Fangaire randomly, he should be safe.

"But we have a job to do, and we'll do it. The council respects that. And in the meantime? We'll keep our skill sets sharp." He settled back, smiling.

"Why do Fangaire go rogue, normally?" Wataru asked. Still not up to the volume that the Executioner had heard when Wataru had greeted his father and Yuri, but still, not mumbling, quite audible.

"Sometimes they just lose their view of humans as intelligent beings and view them entirely as cattle. That's usually after a long while, and those are our most dangerous opponents." The Executioner considered the question. "Some just decide that it's fun to hunt and kill. We've tried to tame out those instincts, breed them out of the behaviours of the Fandiri, but it still happens. Some enjoy their meals' terror. Some are just plain gluttonous. Some want to die but don't for some reason want to go through formal ceremony, so they force us to kill them. Those won't be really trying to kill you, Wataru, but they will try to provoke you into killing them. Personally? I'd rather go out that way, too. Once you've been through one death ceremony, you realize that's not how you want to end your life."

He looked over at Wataru. "All of us still have the instincts, Wataru, both Fangaire and Fandiri. You may not realize it, because you were trained to fight and kill anyway, but it's there. Most Fangaire and Fandiri suppress their fighting and killing instincts; we do to some extent too, but not as much as others."

Wataru nodded. At least the Executioner might get a response. Maybe in the next few weeks he'd get full paragraphs in a normal conversational tone.

"So, we'll be dealing with all kinds. We always do," the Executioner said. "It was a good question, Wataru. To some extent, you do have to understand why they kill in order to defeat them, because some are more dangerous than others."

The boy was learning. There were no hunts at the moment to show him how their minds worked; it was something Wataru would have to learn as the Executioner's apprentice.

"That rogue we leaked to your group had taken up hunting humans for fun," the Executioner said, deciding to use that one as an example. "The energy from one dead human can feed a Fangaire for one to three weeks, depending on their energy. Most of us have to feed every day or so because we actually take so little from the average human. And yet it keeps us from killing our food supply. And getting killed by our food supply.

"We can also use the energy to force our bodies to heal faster – something I'll teach you to do after you go through your change. When you woke up from when I grabbed you in the alley, you felt tired, didn't you?"

Wataru nodded. Back to the non-verbal, it seemed.

"That's because I drained you more than one normally does to a human. I needed you tired out so you wouldn't fight back. I used it to heal the injuries you and Kivat inflicted. Fandiri can also receive energy to stay alive in the short term, but they can't take any of their own. Good for dealing with a Fandiri on a hunger strike." He let Wataru ponder the implications of that one. If for some reason Wataru was taken from him, the knowledge that Wataru couldn't hunger strike would help him decide what tactics to use with his new foster parent.

"There's a lot you have to learn, Wataru. Shall we start with how to behave so you don't get handed off to someone else who won't let you keep in touch with your parents?" Oops. He'd goofed again. Had to remember that Yuri was not Wataru's mother. "Your father and Yuri?"

That worked better. He leaned forward, telling Wataru what he had to do to fool Hiraoka Hotaru into thinking he had adapted.

* * *

Wataru had gone through a lot in the past few weeks. From being found out to being captured, to being more or less the Executioner's apprentice. His father had, in his own way, approved of the arrangement; Yuri-san was probably making plans to get him out of there.

But if there were rogue Fangaire running about killing humans, he couldn't stand idly by. It was what his father and Yuri-san had raised him to do. He didn't want to become Fangaire, didn't want to be changed, didn't want to be backed into a corner with no choice in the matter. At least the Executioner let him see his father and Yuri-san, a radical idea considering that the Fangaire seemed to despise human hunters.

Fangaire like the one sitting on the bed next to him. Hiraoka Hotaru had examined him once before, but he'd been too traumatized to really talk to her, and it sounded like it was a good idea that he hadn't. At seventeen, he was really too old to need a guardian, especially one who took one look at his patterning and tried to force him into being something he couldn't be.

Even the Executioner's attitude seemed strange to him, the treating of humans as cattle and bedmates, anything else not important.

They'd had enough forwarning of Hiraoka-san's visit that he'd eaten the right foods, bringing the pattern out that marked him as half-Fangaire. Her questions on the first visit were simple: How was he feeling? Was he being fed? With what? Had he explained about why Wataru was taken away?

He'd answered her with nodding or shaking his head when possible, leaving anything else unanswered. Apparently she hadn't been too satisfied with that, thus the second visit. If he and the Executioner handled it correctly, he wouldn't have to see the Fangaire again, except at council events he attended formally as the Executioner's apprentice. He was good at hiding what he was; hiding his true answers, answering the way the Executioner had tutored him to do, that shouldn't be that hard. Especially when he provided the outward appearance of a standard half-Fangaire.

The Executioner had told him, when his patterns had shown that one time at breakfast, to get a good look at them and get used to them. Not because he'd be wearing them most of the time, but because other half-Fangaire were used to them, and it would seem strange if he wasn't.

He didn't have to accept them completely, but getting used to them was apparently good. He'd have to talk, but hopefully her questions would be brief. Of course, for the moment, it didn't look like it was going to be, and he didn't envy the Executioner having to deal with her when she was done with Wataru.

As soon as Hiraoka-san had come in, she'd taken something, looking handmade, out of her purse and insisted he eat it, saying that he looked too thin, ignoring his protests as she foisted it on him. He'd finally given in and eaten it, causing her to smile broadly. Now she was talking to him. "You don't have to say much at the moment, Wataru. I realize this is quite a change for you, and I know that you probably are still trying to understand what it means to be Fandiri. We're all sorry that you had to go through this, that your parents didn't understand."

Wataru wanted to reply that his parents had understood perfectly well, but he kept his mouth shut on the matter. No use provoking her, even if it was true. He did really want to say it, to challenge her assertions on the matter, and probably should, but he didn't want to be outspoken and seem like the Executioner wasn't getting through to him about the benefits of life as a half-Fangaire.

"I don't usually see Fandiri children adopted this old, with human attitudes burned in," she mused. "Most of the others are surrendered when they're one or two, maybe sometimes a bit older. You'll be spending the centuries remembering what it was like to be human." She sighed, as if that was a bad thing.

"There's nothing wrong with that," he said, and then abruptly shut up. Speaking his mind was likely to get him and the Executioner in trouble. At least this one was relatively harmless and could be expected out of him.

Hiraoka-san smiled a bit more widely, to his dismay. "Why don't you tell me how you're settling in, Wataru," she said, folding her hands.

Wataru just shot Hiraoka-san a confused look, while he tried to sort out what the Executioner needed him to say to get Hiraoka-san out of their hair.

"How do you feel about the Executioner as your foster father? I'm sure he's explained to you why you can't be in touch with your father and the others anymore."

"He thinks that I should stay in touch with my father and the others," Wataru said, instead of saying what he meant to say, which was that yes, the Executioner had explained everything.

"And have you?" she asked.

He'd meant to say "no", but it came out as "yes". He clamped his hands over his mouth; aware that it didn't look good but at least if he couldn't say anything intelligible, she couldn't hold it against the Executioner. Or maybe she would.

Hiraoka-san gently unclamped his hands. "It's okay, Wataru. It's okay. I have to ask these questions; I have to make sure you're safe where you are. The Executioner's never had custody of a child before. I want to make sure he's treating you right. Normally, I screen parents - I didn't have a chance to do that with you."

"I'm seventeen!" he exclaimed, the annoyance of being referred to as a "child" finally annoying him.

"Wataru, I am six hundred and eighty-five years old," Hiraoka-san explained patiently. "Seventeen is... not precisely not out of diapers, but hardly an adult." She looked at him. "How often have you seen your father? Who else have you seen?"

"I've seen Father and..." He shut his mouth, preventing him from saying what was on his mind. He couldn't say what he'd meant to say, he only said what he didn't mean to say, he had to shut up because according to the Executioner, Hiraoka-san wouldn't take him still seeing his father and Yuri-san too well.

He hadn't started talking this way until after Hiraoka-san had shown up. After he'd eaten. his mind flashed back to that one breakfast where he'd ended up with patterning and the Executioner telling him that he had to anticipate surprises. And in this case, he'd been so busy trying to seem cooperative that he'd eaten something that was making him say things he hadn't meant to say. It was like that breakfast all over again.

"Wataru? Your father and who else?" Hiraoka-san asked, peering at him intently.

Wataru shook his head rapidly. He wasn't going to talk, he wasn't going to betray the Executioner, he wasn't going to be taken somewhere else to people who thought he should never see his family and try to make him into somebody he was not. Much as he would have despised being changed, at least the Executioner understood, and maybe he or Yuri-san or his father would have convinced the Fangaire that maybe Wataru didn't need to be Fangaire.

"Wataru? This is not convincing me that you should be staying here," Hiraoka-san warned. "I need you to talk to me. If I have to, I'll take you home with me until I get the answers I need."

Wataru remembered what the Executioner had said about energy infusions and wondered how long he could live on them before they'd affect his health. "You made me eat something that's making me talk like this."

"I had to hear the truth, Wataru, not what the Executioner told you to say," Hiraoka-san said. "I had... sources... which told me he was thinking of doing this. I..." She paused, looking over at him. "When we take Fandiri from humans, we break the bond between the child and those raising it, for good reason. Fandiri have to be Fangaire, leaving them in touch with their human kin prevents them from doing that, especially if they were hidden for a long time, like you." She shook her head. "And you are the Executioner's apprentice. You have to leave who you were behind. None of us has much choice in the matter."

"My family taught me to fight." He didn't use hunt, he had never hunted, he'd never had the chance to hunt.

"The instinct comes from your Fangaire blood," Hiraoka-san pointed out. "All the more reason to let go of the human you were raised to be."

Wataru stayed silent, aware that he was still under the influence of whatever Hiraoka-san had fed him.

"Working with human hunters is potentially treason, Wataru," Hiraoka-san said. "Human hunters that have perverted one of our children? At the very least, the Executioner is a bad influence on you, and you've suffered enough."

"But I'm his apprentice!" Wataru exclaimed, and shut his mouth again, remembering he was still drugged. He didn't want to talk about the fact that he didn't want to be changed, she'd probably take that and use that against the Executioner too.

"And so you will continue to be," Hiraoka-san said. "One thing I do trust the Executioner on is hunter instincts. You have them, you were trained - albeit by humans - and you will be the Executioner someday. At the rate the current Executioner is acting, this might be sooner rather than later." She stood up. "That's it. Wataru, pack a bag. You're going home with me, and I'm going to find you a parent that can take care of you."

Wataru shook his head and ran. Almost blindly, but with enough brains to dash into the library and hit the trigger for the secret door. Closing it with a little more force than needed, he dashed down the stairs and out the back door. He wasn't sure on how he'd get out, but he would get out of there before he was taken away and never saw his family again.

His family would find a way to hide him. And, after all, the Executioner had made them promise that they wouldn't try to retrieve Wataru, not that they couldn't hide Wataru if he ran away. He was counting on the Executioner to hold up to that side of the bargain, to not chase him, even if Hiraoka-san told him to.

He ran along the walls, looking for a way to get over or across or around them. The Executioner had implied there was a way out other than the gates or climbing the walls, he had to find it. He remembered the layout of the neighborhood he'd found, trying to think where the exit would be. Most of the walls bordered other houses; it had to be on a section of wall that either opened to the street or alleyway. There really wasn't an alleyway, though he had seen, from the library window, a gap between fences. A small space, small enough to maybe walk through but not wider than that. Maybe there was a way out there. He slid to that section of wall, looking for ornamentation or such, and located a stud. Pressing it in, he was rewarded by a click and and a door that opened outwards. Closing the door, he ran towards the end of the small "alley", and he was delighted to find, towards freedom.

* * *

The Executioner was somehow not surprised to see Hotaru. He'd heard the secret door on the ground floor, and the back door, click rather forcefully. "I take it that didn't go well," he said. He'd rather hoped that Wataru would lie smoothly and just get Hotaru out of their hair, but at least this might turn out to be somewhat of an adventure.

"Under the authority of the council," she said, "I'm revoking your guardianship of Kurenai Wataru," she said.

This was not surprising. He'd hoped Wataru would be a better liar, but... things happened. He'd convince the rest of the council to overrule her and to let him have Wataru back as an apprentice. Later. "Assuming you can find him, you mean?" he asked mildly. "It sounds like you told him and he didn't like it very much."

"He's feral," she said. "A danger to himself. You have to find him." She looked at him as if she expected him to do something about it.

"Well, he's not killed any humans or Fangaire that I know of, and he's no longer my foster child so... I'd say he's your problem," the Executioner said, happy to be restricted by his duties, which did not include parole officer for wayward Fandiri. "If you hurry, he might not have found a way to leave the grounds."

"He is still your apprentice, Executioner, I didn't revoke that," she said testily. "I revoked your guardianship. There's a difference. We've all agreed that he's a good apprentice."

The Executioner raised both eyebrows. "Oh." Interesting. They still wanted Wataru to be his apprentice, after all. That said something about the Council's trust in him apprentice-wise.

"Executioner?" she asked, "Aren't you going to go find him?"

The Executioner shrugged. "He has yet to find a way to get out, there's no hurry." He was assuming so, at least. He wouldn't put it past Wataru to have found the secret exit, and if he did, the Executioner would deal with it then. Besides, if Hotaru wanted to revoke custody, there were few people he'd trust better to keep Wataru safe than those in his cell. "Would you like to tell me why you revoked my guardianship of Wataru, especially given that he's still my apprentice?"

"I revoked your guardianship when Wataru admitted to me, under drugs, that you had left him in contact with his human father, and at least one other person. Who, I don't know, because Wataru shut up on me, but it's something that would be enough to convict you of treason if it weren't for the fact we needed you. It's bad enough that I had to drug him to have him tell me the truth." She glared at him. "But he is an intelligent young Fandiri, and I still agree that he should be the next Executioner."

"Before you convict me, would you like me to explain why I did this?" The Executioner asked. Protective of the Fandiri Hotaru was, but not unreasonable, at least not completely.

"Since you seem convinced he's running around in your garden, unable to find a way out," she replied, "Why not?"

"Two reasons, actually." He was hoping not to have given this speech anytime soon, but he wanted to get his point across. Plus, it would give Wataru time to use his head and get out of there. "One, I'm sure you've noticed that this time around, Wataru is talking. What you don't know is that he chose to pattern voluntarily." Admittedly, it had been because they'd both known Hotaru was coming, but he hadn't had to prompt Wataru, Wataru had taken the recipe book and made his own food out of the ingredients he needed. "He even made his own meal."

Hotaru's surprised look spurred him to continue on. "I think the secret behind dealing with at least some of the ferals is to not yank them from home completely - they tend to be older and they're more connected to their families. The babies and the young kids, they can forget. But children as old as Wataru don't. Wataru was not talkative before I brought his father and another call member here, but now? He talks. And he's willing to listen to me. I'm not his enemy, I'm not here to take him away from everything he's known and loved."

"I can see there's been some improvement," she allowed. "And the second?"

"Once Wataru is of legal age and changed, I was planning on having him incorporate them into a helper group. They trust him, he trusts them, it would remove the problem of them being hunters. I'd do it but... they don't trust me. Yet. I planned to get them to trust me by allowing them access to Wataru, but I realized they'd always trust him more. He's one of them. A few generations later, they'll have forgotten they hunted rogues independently."

"That is one way to remove a hunter group from being any kind of threat," Hotaru conceded.

"I think, my lady," he said, seeing her relax a little, "That Wataru will learn to be Fandiri if he comes to think of it as a good thing. His father, for a hunter, seems receptive to the Fangaire - he did sleep with one, after all. And if his father accepts it, so with Wataru."

Hotaru nodded. "It is, until then, treason."

"Sometimes, my lady, you have to do treasonous things to ensure our future." He got up. "I suppose I'd better find Wataru for you now. I'll be interested to see if he got away."

"And what are you going to do if he did?" Hotaru asked. "Assume that he went back to his cell?"

"That, my lady, is the last thing he'd do if he's smart." He smiled. "Let me find him. Explain it to him. He's not going to be happy, but I think I can persuade him that you taking care of him is not the worst thing that could happen."

He could see her bite her tongue at his last remark. He had no problem with being insulting if the situation called for it, and in his opinion, it called for it then.

* * *

A few days later, Wataru found himself sitting across from the Executioner, though his father, Yuri, and Megumi-san were sitting too, keeping him safe and protected, Megumi-san's arm firmly around his shoulders with her holding him close. He'd initially run to a phone, calling Megumi-san's phone - he knew the number by heart - and telling her that he'd run and he needed help.

Megumi-san had come with a guy she'd been seeing, a man that she'd been dating that belonged to another hunter group. They'd taken him to the home of another member of his group who'd been willing to help hide Wataru; in fact, Wataru remembered that they'd been willing to help smuggle him out, once Shima-san had secured his false passport.

But The Executioner had come to his father, and Yuri, and apparently they'd had a very long talk. Wataru wasn't sure of what conclusion they'd come to, but apparently he'd convinced them to turn Wataru over to him. If Wataru wanted to be turned over. He was sure Yuri-san was ready to hand him his false passport and drop him at an airport for transport out of the country. Or had been, before the Executioner had spoken to them. From what little the others had said, one of the Executioner's colleagues had a lot of pull and it would have been futile to try to smuggle him out. And even if they had, he'd be hunted - for his own safety - for the rest of his life.

Wataru had to wonder if the Executioner knew about Megumi-san's boyfriend and the other hunter group. He probably did. He seemed to know - through the Fangaire known as the Watcher - a lot about the hunter groups, both those who hunted rogues and those who hunted Fangaire regardless of good or evil leanings. Wataru had met a rather radical hunter - a man named Nago - who had dated Megumi-san for a short time and was almost as scary as Megumi-san's father. Fortunately, Megumi-san had broken up with him and that was the last they'd seen of him.

He focused on what The Executioner was saying. "It's only for a few days, maybe a month," The Executioner was explaining to Yuri-san. "The members of the council are not stupid. They know Wataru's fairly comfortable with me. And I've talked to the person in question. What she needs to see is that Wataru's adjusting, and that your presence is critical to that. And she's not going to see that if she doesn't get to spend time with Wataru. I'm sorry that Wataru's going to not be in touch, but if we can sway her, that will mean that it might be easier for future kids, and easier for Wataru in the long run."

"And if things go wrong?" Yuri-san asked. "Like the Council decides that you're not a good guardian, and decides he should be with someone else?"

That was what Wataru was afraid of, really. What he'd been afraid of when The Executioner had kidnapped him. He could have lost his father and Yuri-san and Megumi-san, but he'd lucked into someone who had let him have them back.

The Executioner might not have understood everything, but he understood enough.

"It's been confirmed to me that Wataru is my apprentice, and that won't change. The question is, of course, whether I can convince them to let him stay with me and let him stay in touch with you. My opinion is not particularly popular among the Fangaire. My hope, and I would presume Wataru's, is that they do let him stay. I hope to convince them that, if nothing else, Wataru needs to be with me, and needs to be training, because there is a threat to humans that you can't even imagine, and the Fangaire need him trained as soon as possible."

"What kind of threat?" Yuri-san asked, ever alert. Megumi-san was listening closely too.

"There are those Fangaire who have forgotten that protecting humans does not mean killing them," The Executioner said cryptically. Wataru knew what he was talking about - the Fangaire who wanted to reduce humanity's numbers to save their prey and the world - but he hadn't gotten around to telling Yuri-san, the whole thing having slipped his mind in the excitement.

"And?" Yuri-san asked, clearly expecting more information.

"I'd really like to have Wataru on the job by then," The Executioner said, either not getting the hint, or at least not acknowledging it.

"No, the Fangaire," Yuri-san clarified.

"Ah. Why don't I have Wataru explain it to you when I get him back?" The Executioner asked. "He can explain it to you so much better than I could."

"Why don't we have Wataru explain it to us right now, while he's right here?" Yuri-san snapped.

"Because I'm still gathering information on the threat myself, and therefore haven't had time to go over more than the basics with Wataru," the Executioner pointed out. "If we do tell you, could you at least not go without Wataru by your side?"

Yuri-san raised her eyebrows. "We?"

"Wataru is my apprentice," The Executioner pointed out. "I think I can speak for him."

"Wataru can speak for himself," Yuri-san replied sharply. "Just because you found him doesn't mean you get to speak for him."

"It's all right, Yuri-san," Wataru said, speaking up, only realizing belatedly that it wouldn't sound too good to Yuri-san if he was defending the Fangaire. She'd only be convinced that he was being brainwashed... and he knew that he'd be out of there fast if Yuri-san was convinced of that. "I'd like to go hunting with you out there." He cast a pleading look at her, hopefully enough that she wouldn't try to do anything bad to the Executioner.

Because at least if the Executioner had custody of him, things would be okay. And if Yuri-san took him hunting, at least maybe she'd stop being so worried about his humanity, or lack of it.

Yuri-san glared at him, but seemed to back down. "You need to bring Wataru back with you," she said simply.

"If I don't, I will be the one to explain it to you. And give you the information about those rogues," the Executioner promised. "And then I will bring him back." Wataru knew that the Executioner had been serious about involving Yuri-san and his father in his life, despite Fangaire laws that should have stopped him from doing it. He'd done what some considered treason to keep them in contact, and that should have been good enough.

Just not enough for Yuri-san. "Yuri-san," Wataru said, "He's telling you the truth."

"If you really didn't in some way trust him," his father said, "we wouldn't be here."

Yuri-san glared at both of them. His father stared steadily back at her. And Megumi-san held him tight, ready to take him out of there. He wished that she and Yuri-san understood that the Executioner would hunt him down again if they tried to take him away. Plus he had stopped wanting to run away from the Executioner; it was the rest of Fangaire society he didn't like, didn't want anything to do with, and he trusted the Executioner to try to keep him away.

Finally, his father and Yuri-san broke it off. "Right," Yuri-san said reluctantly. Megumi-san was still holding onto him, as if afraid to let him go.

But eventually she did let go.

* * *

Hotaru was surprised, in a way, that she'd gotten Wataru back. Or at least in her custody, since she'd never really had him in the first place, as it was supposed to be. She'd seen the Executioner's point about how Wataru had emerged from his shell after he'd been allowed to see his family; there had been a marked improvement in his behavior, and as the Executioner had pointed out, Wataru was adapting. Just not in the usual ways. Maybe the Executioner had the right idea, at least in Wataru's case. It might only work with him, or might work with any other hunter-born ferals they recovered.

In any case, he was at her house, patterned (though he seemed less than happy about that, and she'd have to talk to the Executioner about it) and not shying away or really avoiding her like she'd seen in some ferals. She listened to the faint sounds of violin music; Wataru was getting in some practice, it seemed.

The music eventually wound down, and as a few minutes passed, no new music took its place. She remembered vaguely hearing her first violin music about two, maybe three centuries ago, the sound of the imported musical instrument pleasant to her ears. Wataru was a good player, which wasn't surprising. From what she knew of Wataru's family, his father had also had that talent too. She didn't have a problem with him practicing the violin – it was something quite acceptable, and in some cases, encouraging. She thought the Executioner was insane to let Wataru make violins, with all the tools that he could have used to attack his foster parent, but playing the instrument was harmless.

Wataru wouldn't be the first foster child to come with and play a musical instrument, though various types of flutes and pipes were more common. Hotaru had had one other violinist that she remembered throughout the years.

She looked up as the door to the living room opened. Wataru stood in the doorway, as if unsure that he should enter. "Wataru, come in," she said invitingly. No matter what the Executioner had done, the young man was hesitant, quiet. Polite, too, and the impression that he'd given her in their brief conversations was that he'd been sequestered, kept away and kept 'safe'. So typical of a hunter-born Fandiri. She wished once more that they'd found him and rescued him sooner, but there was nothing that she or anybody else could do about it.

Wataru slipped into the room, bowing politely as he took the chair she indicated. Some of the older hunter-borns that they'd rescued had attacked her, but Wataru had shown no such interest. She had a suspicion that had she gotten him first, he would have been withdrawn rather than dangerous. And she could deal with a withdrawn Fandiri, even if it was only because she wouldn't have to restrain them. Whether she'd have been able to bring him out of his shell was a good question, but she'd love to believe so. Even if it took longer than it had the Executioner.

"The Executioner wanted me to tell you what he'd done," Wataru said softly. She'd never heard the boy speak in a normal tone of voice, and wondered if that was part of his normal personality, or if he was still scared. Just because he seemed to be adapting, didn't mean that he couldn't be scared. And she'd take scared over withdrawn any day.

"He did tell me something of what he'd done," Hotaru said, "But I want to hear it from you. Because you're the one this affects."

A lot of what she'd recommend to the Council would be dependent upon her evaluation of Wataru's mental state. Sure, he was adapting... but he'd still run like the feral he was when she tried to collect him. That was worrisome. She also wanted to make sure that Wataru was meant to be the Executioner's apprentice; though she had met enough of the hunter-born to know that some of them were quiet rather than aggressive, even that hadn't made any of them able to function in Fangaire society.

"You won't drug me this time?" Wataru asked, almost pleading at her.

"Not if you tell me what's going on," Hotaru said. "And Wataru, I did that for your own good. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have lived up to my obligations to keep you safe."

Wataru's expression screamed that he didn't agree with that, but he didn't say anything about it, probably having been instructed to cooperate with her fully. Instead, he started talking about their original topic. "The Executioner brought my father and Yuri-san home one day. He said it was because he wanted them to see I was okay... and that he thought I'd be better this way."

Aso Yuri. She'd heard of the woman, slightly more radical than the rest of her cell. She had to question why such a person was allowed access to a vulnerable Fandiri. Wataru's father seemed far less dangerous. If it had been his father, given Wataru's improvement... maybe she would have less of a problem. "Why the two of them?"

"He came for my father, and I guess Yuri-san wanted to come along," Wataru said hesitantly. "Yuri-san didn't want me with the Executioner, but my father talked her into not trying to take me back."

That was a useful piece of information. Hotaru had to remind herself that Kurenai Otoya was a hunter, but at least he showed sanity that most hunters lacked. Which made her wonder how he'd ended up in such a pitiful group in the first place. Of course, the Executioner would probably argue that taking Wataru away from him would turn him radical, but she had hope that he, like most humans, had more sense than the hunters. "Do you feel better that your father and Aso Yuri are able to visit you?"

Wataru nodded. "I don't think they'd leave me there if they couldn't see I was all right," he said. "And I know that they'd get me free if they thought I wasn't."

"You mean, you want them to visit because you're afraid that they'll think you're in trouble?" Hotaru asked. That shed a new light on things. If Wataru was trying to keep the peace between his past and his present, that was something unexpected. Maybe something that was worth being preserved.

"I don't want to be Fangaire," Wataru said. "And Yuri-san knows that. If she's there, I'm safe, because she wouldn't let that happen."

The determination in Wataru's voice made her pause, reminded her that she was still dealing with a feral. "Is she that important to you, Wataru?"

"Yuri-san helped raise me," Wataru said. "She taught me to fight. She protects me. She's part of who I am."

Which made Wataru more dangerous than he seemed, but also made him an ideal candidate for the Executioner's apprentice. They had to channel his fighter instincts and training somewhere, after all. But there was more danger here than Wataru's upbringing, danger to Wataru himself. He couldn't be who he was supposed to be if these humans kept holding him back.

The trouble would be protecting Wataru from himself. Or getting him to the point where he could see that he was meant to be Fangaire, not human. Where Aso Yuri and her attitudes didn't matter anymore. When Wataru was changed, he'd begin to see things differently. Plus, maybe the woman would want nothing to do with Wataru once he was past change, and get out of his life.

She smiled as she realized that she might have to, like the Executioner, think of a radical solution. "Hiraoka-san?" Wataru asked hesitantly.

"I was just thinking... Wataru, you think you're an adult, don't you?"

* * *

The Executioner calmly contemplated the whole turn of events as he waited. Wataru's discovery of the secret door in the wall was excellent, even if it set things back a week or two. He was proud of his apprentice for getting out and evading him. He'd had to trace down where Wataru had likely hidden, who he would have contacted, and then persuaded Otoya and Yuri that he knew more than he did about where Wataru was.

And then he'd had to talk Wataru into staying with Hotaru, which hadn't been fun, and had reinforced that it was going to take a lot of work to tame Yuri. But she was a good warrior, well worth the effort to work on getting to trust him. And hopefully Wataru had convinced Hotaru that anything treasonous wasn't really treasonous, because it had helped a feral Fandiri adapt to his new life. Besides, if Wataru made a good impression on Hotaru, that would make it easier when he was taking on his own apprentice someday.

Of course, the Executioner had to face the council first, getting them to not try him for treason and to let him have Wataru back. At least it was the regular council, not the judicial council, at least at the moment. He'd have a chance to explain his reasoning once more, make them understand why he'd acted as he did. If they weren't satisfied, he might be well facing the judicial council. He hoped not. It was annoying.

When he entered, he saw Wataru, sitting off to the left. The young man was in ceremonial robes marking him as the Executioner's apprentice. He was sitting in seiza position on top of a zabuton, a cushion, and the Executioner thought he saw a seiza stool being discreetly used. He was, of course, fully patterned, the marks extending down his arms to spiderweb at his hands.

At least they still were recognizing Wataru as his apprentice. Good.

The council was seated in front of him. Hotaru was off to the left of center of the seven-member council. Quiet and thoughtful. Off to the right of the council, he could see the Chooser, and wondered if the other man had business there as well. Maybe he'd only come to look at Wataru and evaluate him.

"Executioner," Ohme Fumizuki said. He was the head of the council, the one that kept order, the one who was interested in history and keeping things straight. "You understand why you are here?"

"I presume it has to do with Kurenai Wataru and my choice of ways to raise him," the Executioner said. No lightness here, no time for that. No referring to Wataru as his apprentice, despite the robes; they might decide, in a fit of spite, to take that away.

"That is correct," said a second council member. Yumi Sayuri, the youngest of the council. Executioner wondered how she'd swing; she tended to take the position that seemed most popular. "Because of your continued contact with the hunter cell he was removed from."

"Councilmember Hiraoka has presented a recording of her discussions with Wataru, and with you over the matter," Ohme said. "We believe that we can deal with this issue instead of pressing criminal charges."

Good. That meant that he probably wouldn't be killed over this whole thing. Not that the council seemed overly happy with him right now, but he'd live and hopefully Wataru would stay his apprentice. Of course, he might not stay his foster child.

"The Chooser has evaluated the child," Yumi Sayuri said. "Wataru would not make a suitable Fangaire under normal circumstances, but he has agreed that Wataru will make a suitable Executioner one day."

The Chooser nodded, apparently agreeing with the councilor's description.

"You have two choices," Ohme Fumizuki said. "One is to cut off contact with the hunter cell until Wataru is changed. While he remains Fandiri, we believe that he will be harmed by continued contact."

"The second," Hotaru said, "Is to change him now." She didn't look happy with what she was saying. "As you pointed out, once he names them as his helpers, they will no longer be a hunter cell and it will no longer be treasonous. At the very least, they should be less dangerous to him. We normally don't recommend this, but your circumstances are special. It might be in Wataru's best interest to be changed."

"You can, of course," Yumi said, "Choose to die. Wataru would become Executioner immediately after your death." Yumi had never liked him, he recalled. "That would remove any... problems on your part."

He realized from the expression on some of the councilmembers' faces that they'd like nothing better than have a new Executioner. He had really never been good at the formal things, he'd just played at them. But he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of dying.

And he wasn't going to break his promise to Wataru's cell.

That left changing Wataru. He didn't know how the boy would react. He hoped if Wataru had reservations about changing, that they would let the Executioner talk to him, maybe help him through it. He wouldn't be allowed to change Wataru, though. That would fall to Ohme Fumizuki because Wataru was in a ceremonial position.

He looked at Wataru. The boy seemed tense, and if he didn't want to be changed, it seemed bad either way for him. But the Executioner was not going to die, and he wasn't going to cut Wataru off from his family. He was going to keep his promise to Yuri if it killed him.

"Change him now," he said. He saw panic in Wataru's wide eyes; he hoped the boy would have the sense not to run. Wataru did not want to change, would resist the change, might die if he didn't cooperate.

The Executioner had to wonder if Wataru was more like Yuri than he thought, Yuri who had never been enthusiastic about the whole thing.

"Understood," Ohme Fumizuki said, nodding curtly. The Executioner knew that he'd treat Wataru fairly.

"Please wait," Hotaru said, as politely as possible. "For the moment, he's still Fandiri and still under my care. I'd like to talk to him. And to the Executioner. Wataru is still getting used to being Fandiri; I'd rather we not lose the Executioner's apprentice by accident."

"Understood," Ohme Fumizuki said. "You have... half an hour. We'll excuse the three of you to a side room."

Wataru was assisted up by one of the council assistants, and lead Wataru off to said room. Hotaru met the Executioner on the way to the same room. "I may not be as... creative... as you, but I thought about it, and thought about it, and this is what I could think of to solve the problem. I didn't think it likely that you'd break off contact. And, after dealing with Wataru, I'm willing to concede that at least brief contact with human parents in this kind of situation is not necessarily a bad thing."

"Thank you," he said. "I just wish Wataru was taking it as well."

"I... think I sometimes forget that Wataru is still relatively feral," Hotaru confessed. "I think he's the first candidate for change that didn't want it. You did a good job in that short time, Executioner."

It was funny. A few weeks ago, Hotaru had been an enemy, an obstacle. Here, she might be Wataru's best chance at surviving.

"But it's still treason?" he asked, with a small smile.

"Unfortunately, yes, and had you mishandled it, I would have been asking for your death, but... he's all right. Still feral, but I guess you do know how to handle at least some hunters." She paused. "Sometimes to save someone, you have to let them go."

"Thank you. Now, let's make sure this one doesn't inadvertently kill himself."

* * *

Wataru had, strangely enough, not minded his stay at Hiraoka-san's place. She mostly left him alone, probably figuring he could fend for himself. They did talk, in a more relaxed manner, mostly because the Executioner had told him to be honest about it. The more Hiraoka-san understood, the easier it might be for the next hunter-raised half-Fangaire. And he knew that the Executioner thought he could talk his and Wataru's way out of this, and that everything would somewhat go back to the way it was. He'd never be allowed to be human again, not under these peoples' watchful gazes, but he had his father and Yuri-san and Megumi-san to keep him anchored.

Earlier in the day, he'd been brought to the council building - at some point, somebody's house, apparently - and brought clothes to wear, the same ceremonial clothes he'd be expected to wear when he was before the council as the Executioner's apprentice. Then he'd had a long talk with the Chooser, who turned out to be actually fairly elderly-looking for a Fangaire human form, and kind, and good at prying things out of him that he didn't mean to say. The Chooser hadn't needed drugs to make him confess things.

And they'd let him sit on a seiza stool, for which he was grateful. It was because he was the one that they were debating about, and because of his status he'd been allowed to use one. Sitting that long would have been very... interesting.

He was more grateful for it when the Council had made their statement, and the Executioner had made his choice. The Executioner had chosen to maintain contact with his father and Yuri over keeping Wataru as he was. He had been prepared to run, only the Executioner's warning gaze had kept him there.

But he wasn't ready to change. Not at the moment, not with Yuri-san to argue with them about it, and his father to be by his side. With Megumi-san to stand over him and protect him. He had some clue on what to expect, part of Yuri-san's horror stories on what would happen to him if the Fangaire found him out. But somehow he'd expected to change around twenty, or twenty-five, or maybe never. The Executioner was not allowing his cell to have its say.

Of course, he got the sense that the Executioner did what he thought was best for both himself and the cell. The Executioner had never said it out loud, but he'd incorporated Wataru's cell into "his people", humans he protected and in turn made decisions for.

Yuri-san would probably not be very happy about that, if she knew.

Hiraoka-san and the Executioner entered the room. "Wataru, are you all right?" Hiraoka-san asked. "It looked like you were having a panic attack."

"I don't want to be changed," he said softly. The volume he'd had when the Executioner started talking to him, to some extent when Hiraoka-san had been talking to him.

"Wataru," the Executioner said, "You would have been changed eventually. This is a small price to pay for maintaining the alliances you grew up in. Alliances that the Fangaire badly need. You won't even be out of circulation that long, just enough to learn how to control your energy drain so you don't kill humans."

"I am human," Wataru said. And Fangaire too, he couldn't deny that part of himself. But that part didn't come out. He didn't want it to come out.

"And Fangaire," Hiraoka-san said. "You want to protect humans from rogue Fangaire, right? You've told me that's what you were brought up to do."

Wataru nodded, realizing Hiraoka-san sometimes understood. Sometimes.

"Then take the gift. Become the Executioner's apprentice for real. Protect your people. Protect those you love. As Fangaire, we love too." She smiled a little. "Sometimes a little too much."

"Hotaru and I were Fandiri once, too," the Executioner pointed out. "We have human blood. She protects Fandiri, I protect humans. And so will you. Sometimes you just can't foresee how you're meant to do it."

Was that how he was meant to do it, to become Fangaire? Yuri-san would probably thwack him soundly with her sword if he'd voiced that to her, funnily enough. But it made sense. Much as he hated to admit it, it made sense. And it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter. Lose Yuri-san and Megumi-san and his father for three years and be changed anyway, or accept it now and figure out how to deal. At least he wasn't doing it alone.

"Are you feeling better, Wataru?" the Executioner asked. "Do you think you can get through this?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. "But I... I guess I'll try."

The Executioner watched Wataru sleep, exhausted by the change. He was full Fangaire now, even if he hadn't chosen to be. Sometimes, the Executioner had learned, life was full of things you couldn't see right away, and sometimes someone wiser and older had to choose for you. As he had chosen for Wataru, no matter how painful it might have been for the young man.

He himself would have to explain things to Otoya and Yuri, tell them what had happened to Wataru while Wataru learned how to drain energy properly. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation, even as he knew it had to be done. But it would be better for all of them. Better for the future.

Better for the world.

-end


End file.
